It's been a while since I last posted, but I believe its been for good reason. Since the beginning of February, when I got "the call" I really haven't had a chance to slow down, pause, or take a break. Now, I'm not saying that since A-100 ended life has been a breeze (far from it in fact), but I have realized now the excruciating pace I've been going at since this all began. After the swearing in I slept harder than I think I ever have. I think my body just realized what it had been through and that there was a short window to recover... boy, that sure felt good. After a great weekend of celebrating the end of A-100 and the official beginning of Steph and my new diplomatic life, I put everyone on planes and sent them back to Minnesota. On Monday, it was back to reality and back to a little bit of (controlled) chaos.
Since then, I have been in language training for a week and a half now. The time has definitely gone quickly and been enjoyable. Although, it has been a lot of work and wears me out each and everyday. Heading to Spanish every morning is a constant reminder of what we've gotten into. It's not quite like college, but it's also not your typical full time job. Our classes are extremely small, and I spend 4+ hours in a classroom environment that is 98% in Spanish. The rest of the time in the day is spent in the multimedia lab working on listening exercises, speaking practice, interactive programs, and homework. I also do about an hour of homework each night. All of that totals to about 9 hours or so of Spanish everyday. It's so weird to study one subject so intensely and to have it be your full-time job on top of that.
I've definitely felt like I've been learning during our short amount of time in class, but I'm really wishing I could fast forward a few weeks at this point to be more comfortable in the language. I enjoy doing all the work and am motivates as the language will be a skill I need to have for my job. Although, all this work and the effort to understand another language has been exhausting. To put things in perspective, I have heard that one day in language at FSI is the equivalent of one to two weeks of a college level language course. I know that my hard work and this exhaustion will pay off, but I'm definitely looking forward to being able to use my new skill effectively.
Aside from starting language training, the move out of A-100 has been fairly smooth and enjoyable. It's strange to walk the halls at FSI and not see my classmates in their suits. Now everyone has moved to different levels of dress, with those of us in language training on the more casual end of the spectrum. I get the opportunity to catch up with many of them either in the hallways or at lunch, which I really enjoy. I know that during the A-100 days I have made many friends that we will keep throughout our careers. These are the people we will keep track of share this common experience across the globe with.
Everyday there is something that reminds me of how lucky I am to be able to be apart of this amazing experience. I hope I never lose that mystique.
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