Mission Accomplished

Well, the dreaded Foreign Service Written Examination is over, and now I have but to wait til the end of July to hear the results. I think I did well, but I have yet to see if "well" is good enough. I've heard about 10% of takers pass the test. I'll break down the experience as best I can without violating the NDA I had to sign.

There were 4 sections:

-Job Knowledge, which was further divided into a general section and a section for the career path you choose (I selected "political"). These were multiple choice questions about history, geography, government, computers, and all sorts of stuff. It was the hardest part. I few questions stuck in my mind, and on looking them up later I learned I missed them, but I already know there is no good in me worrying about that now.

-English Expression. This was also entirely multiple choice. It seemed easy to me, and I had done well on the practice tests I had tried beforehand.

-Essay. Just like any timed essay really. I think I did well here.

-Biographical Information. Lots of strange broad questions where you have to answer a multiple choice question and then write in examples from life experience. It was hard to think of things in time, and this was atually the most difficult section to finish on time, and I even left a couple answers blank on accident.

At least it's over. I won't know the result until July, and I'd like to forget about the whole thing until then.

And now, some photos of Sapporo, including the coolest urinal on Earth: