Sorry, Germany.
You might be nice. I've been near you. In fact, I've been all around you, ALL around you. It's funny, actually, when I look at the map and think about my travels, it's as if I was AVOIDING you, specifically. I visited your border countries. Beautiful, I tell you. Lovely.
I was even in Czechoslovakia "back in the olden days" when it was still Czechoslovakia.
German language is kicking the collective asses of my family. The big language phone test is next week. And my husband has been spending months getting up early and staying up late and driving to a tutor and paying good bucks to the fraus I haven't met. He has come a long way. He didn't really speak German before, now he does. But this process is time-sucking, soul-sucking. I really, REALLY hope he passes the test next week. If not for the point bump on the PD register (which is currently 168 people long!), for the personal achievement and satisfaction of having done it! Of having put in all this work and having made the grade. But if he doesn't pass, he still will have come a huge distance, on his own, and with hard work and determination. Worst case: he could take the test again in six months. (Reading of PhDs in German literature and high school German teachers and folks who lived in Germany for 7 years and their test-taking stories on the A-100 board doesn't help!)
The kids and I are ready for German to be done. We'd like to have that guy back. These next few days until the test will be tense.
Our 11th wedding anniversary is tomorrow.
It's been a tough year. At the risk of being a blame-shifter, I'd have to place a large percentage of the tension in our lives squarely at the feet of the Foreign Service admission process.
Germany, it's not your fault, I apologize for my hostility.
Stupid
So I hate
Edit: (Dear Board of Examiners, please do not hold my hatred for this process against my husband... mind erase, mind erase, bzzt...)
12 comments:
Very best of luck! I just heard from Deutchland, and he doesn't blame you for hating him.
I always thought Deutschland was a she but I am sure she understands. She's very diplomatic that way! Good luck with the exam and hope he gets the bump. Maybe you can celebrate your anniversary with Schnitzel with Knodels, ha!
i will be crossing every digit possible. best of luck, ITMTG husband.
Best of luck!!! = )
Chica333 said...
Best of luck to your husband and your family!!! I hope with my whole heart he passes.
I have been reading your blog, as our family is going through the same thing-only we actually moved to a completely different country. We have been living in Guatemala for almost 6 months to help my husband pass his phone test. His test is in less than 2 weeks.
I truly can understand a little of what your family is going through.
If you are curious about what we have been going through find our blog at:
www.travelpod.com/members/saundersfamily
Oh wow! Good luck to you all!
It’s Friday, and that means that the Weekly State Department Blog Roundup is up – and you’re on it!
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Germany is always referred to as the Fatherland, not Motherland, so definitely male...just saying.
Good luck to him! The trick with these tests seem to be that they want to hear the preterite tense used, they want to hear "professional"-type language used, and they don't want to hear colloquial language used. But I am sure he knows that already. I really, really hope to see you guys get the bump up!
And happy anniversary!
Very best of luck to your husband! I really enjoyed reading this post because your husband has been talking to my husband on the phone for weeks and my husband is in the same boat, so to speak with his German test. I admire the hard work our guys have been putting into this and I truly hope it pays off! I am undergoing my own killer waiting process with the Foreign Service (it's been 17 months!) and hoping to finally get word so that we can embark on this journey once and for all! Good luck again and hope to meet you in person someday soon!
Best of luck on the test to your hubs! And yes I agree the German language sucks. I gave up after a few months and I lived there. More power to him and i hope you get your husband back soon.
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