Foreign Service Written Exam (and Tonkatsu Sauce)

Morgen ist mein fünfundzwanzigste Geburtstag, but more on that, appropriately enough, tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also the day that I take the Foreign Service Written Exam for the fourth year in a row. Since Aaron is already a member of the diplomatic corps as a consular officer, I've decided to change my career track to public diplomacy. I think it would be a good fit for me since I'm relatively outgoing and like social gatherings. I also wanted the career track that would allow most use of foreign languages in a variety of settings. I'm not too concerned about it (or at least I'm trying not be be) since I've taken it before. I speak six languages - English, French, German, Italian, Tagalog, and Mandarin Chinese - and I would love to be able to use a foreign language in such a capacity in my professional life.

My colleagues in German training had a birthday card signed for me when I walked into our room late this morning. It was okay that I was late, though, since I walked in with mustard and homemade pretzels that Aaron made for my birthday. My German instructor even gave me a present - a bottle of Bulldog Tonkatsu Sauce. I was lamenting (in German) how this particular brand of tonkatsu sauce was difficult to find in Houston, even with the huge Asian population there. I was so desperate for it that had my mother mail me several bottles from Los Angeles. I happened to mention that we were almost out of it, and my instructor suddenly got interested. »Können Sie das buchstabieren, bitte?« I spelled it for her, never wondering why she wanted to know. I opened the present from her today when I got home, and it was a bottle of Bulldog! Lecker, lecker, lecker. When I was asked what I was doing tomorrow, I answered: »Morgen mache ich um 8 Uhr die Außministeriumsprüfung.« So now everyone's crossing their fingers for me.

I can't believe I'm turning 25 tomorrow and celebrating it by waking up at 5 AM to take an exam. It's going to be great. :)