Just finished the Foreign Service Exam; I'm sitting in a library on the UCI campus, so I'm going to record my thoughts in the aftermath.  First off was the Job Information test, the basic test of history, politics, economics, management and computer knowledge.  I was excited to get two China questions right off the bat, and a grand total of three questions for the whole exam.  The computer questions were easy:  as long as you knew what a browser is, what a CPU is <em>not</em>, and what a "bookmark" is on the Web, it was fine.  I got stumped on a couple of history questions.  That is definitely the subject I need to brush up on for next time.

Next up was the Essay--it was nothing you could prepare for subject-wise, I believe it's just a test of the exam-taker's spelling and grammar.  Mostly grammar.  All three were general controversial subjects, in which you were asked to take a position and support it with facts and logical argument.  As for myself, I write slowly, so I churned out a page and a half in the allotted 65 minutes.

After the Essay, we were allowed a fifteen minute break.  This was from approximately noon to 12:15 PM.  We had entered the room at 8 AM and started testing half an hour later, but it didn't feel like that much time had passed.  After the break, we went on to the personal information section.  In this section, you fill out a questionnaire about your previous job experience in terms of projects, leadership, volunteer work and ability to handle stress and multiple projects at once.  This was a major killer for me, because I don't have much experience working in team environments.  I did write down all the Japanese dramas I've been watching for the "How many foreign films have you seen in the last year?" question.  Was that honest?  I think so.

Finally, the English grammar section.  This section requires you to read passages, and choose alternate constructions for underlined phrases.  This section was a cinch, I pretty much nailed all but three or four questions.

Overall, it wasn't a hard test.  Results are e-mailed out in late July.

--Now I'm off to the Irvine Spectrum to catch an early showing of <a href="http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com">Better Luck Tomorrow</a>.