Tuesday, May 28, 2013

A brief respite from the wretched stench of failure

Thanks to a combination of my utter linguistic incompetence running smack dab into an examination regimen designed for personality types other than my own, we're going to be here for at least four more weeks. This Memorial Day weekend was therefore understandably not one for celebrating, and in fact I've spent most of it sitting around the apartment in a self-defeating/self-pitying apathetic burned-out funk. I needed to get out, and thanks to my physician's cautious approval to resume physical activities other than competitive sports (not to mention some really nice weather), I made a tentative return today to the world of hiking. Well, walking, actually, but for the first time in about three months, I laced up the hiking boots and went back out on the trails, and even had my wife and daughter along for company. My career may be hanging in the balance, but at least I can still share a few photos of today's outing.


My choice for reentering the great wide world of the outdoors was the Cosca Regional Park in suburban Clinton, Maryland. Here, Amber poses in front of a pond on the way to the park's Clearwater Nature Center. And, yes, the water was clear.



My daughter enjoyed looking at the live lizards and snakes on display inside the nature center, but what really got her excited was the birds of prey located outside, many of which had been injured and were being taken care of, including a bald eagle and a red-shouldered hawk.


From the nature center, we quickly found the trail we were looking for and made our way through the foliage, serenaded by various birds as we walked along.


Cosca Lake, a man-made lake that has been around for more than forty years and is popular with the local anglers.



We followed the Lake Trail around the lake, an easy walk during which we saw numerous butterflies and geese.


My daughter spends some quality time with a new-found friend sitting by the side of the lake.


Cosca Lake isn't big by any stretch of the imagination, but the girls seemed to enjoy the walk. For Amber, the circuit of the lake ended with some quality time spent at a lakeside playground.



Like I said, it was an easy walk, covering a distance of only 1.4 miles (2.25 kilometers) round-trip. Even this left my surgically-repaired knee feeling a little sore, but it still felt good being outside again.


On the way home, we stocked up on goodies such as strawberries, blueberries, syrup and soda at a roadside bakery/grocer/nursery. Amber and I rewarded ourselves with strawberry and maple donuts, respectively.

I'm looking forward to getting back out into nature again. With the increased pressure on my shoulders regarding my now-tenuous future career prospects, I'm going to need some respites in the upcoming weeks.












Saturday, May 18, 2013

Now cometh crunch time

I passed by this kiddie train while walking home (yes, walking - more on that later) this afternoon from FSI. I have no idea if it runs during the summer season, or whether it has permanently ceased operations.

In less than a week I'll be taking my final Mandarin Chinese exam. Finally. I've already had the test postponed twice - once back in February, when the language section decided that my progress has been too slow and therefore more time was required; and then in early April, thanks to the surgery I had done on my left knee, getting a ligament reattached to prevent the knee from continuing its annoying habit of wanting to pop out of its socket. Am I ready? Yes. And no.

This covered section of the above-mentioned kiddie train line resembles Noah's Ark. It might be because the small park where it's located is next door to a Vietnamese Methodist Church. Then again, it might not be.

I'm ready, in the sense that I'm anxious to get out of here and be on our way to Shanghai 上海, so I can finally get a start on my new career. There's nothing wrong with living in the Falls Church/Arlington/Alexandria, Virginia area, but it's been almost a year of doing nothing but sitting in classrooms and trying to absorb way too much information. It's time to move on.

Be bewwy, bewwy quiet. Wabbits are bewwy abwundant in this area.

No, I'm not ready, in the sense that I still don't feel confident that I'll pass. I don't know what it is - I've been struggling with Mandarin here since September, but of course it goes back much, much further than that. After all those years living in a Mandarin-speaking environment in Taiwan, the only language that I saw significant improvement in was Japanese. I could make excuses (true excuses, but excuses nonetheless) that those many humiliating experiences I had in Taiwan have resulted in some kind of mental block preventing me from enjoying conversing in Chinese, but that doesn't change the fact that I need to do well enough on the test next week to get off of language probation and be on our to China.

A small shopping center I passed as I was walking home. I stopped in at the Fiesta Oriental Store to buy a Gatorade. Perhaps my true path lies in the field of suburban planning instead of diplomacy, international relations or language teaching. If it was up to me, I would break the endless tracts of houses that mark American suburbia by including numerous small clusters of shops that would serve the surrounding neighborhoods and perhaps encourage people to walk or ride a bike to their local grocer etc., instead of having to drive.

It's safe to say I'm suffering from some serious exam anxiety. If I may rant, the way languages are taught at FSI remind of Taiwanese driving schools - at the latter, students aren't taught how to drive, they only learn what is needed to pass the unrealistic driving tests and thus get their driver's licenses (and then go out and kill themselves, and others, on the road). As for the exams themselves, they're structured more for political, economic or public diplomacy officers. I'm going to be a consular officer, where the biggest part of my job will be interviewing Chinese applicants and determining whether or not they're eligible for American visas. The test, however, will be asking me to give reports in Mandarin on topics such as gun control, nuclear weapons proliferation, human rights and so on. Which is most unfortunate because I actually didn't do too badly in the few consular classes I had in the Mandarin program. 

A classic American car. Which classic American car it actually is, however, I haven't a clue. UPDATE: Thanks to my old friend Rich, who is much wiser than me in the way of the automobile, I now know that this is a 1959 Cadillac. 

What also has me worried is the impression I have from prior experience that the exams are set up to reward those Type-A personalities who relish opportunities to express themselves. Then there is the fact that, in the Asian section at least, there is the perception among the testers (who are all native speakers of the languages) that Americans are (and should be) direct, frank and opinionated, so people like me have two strikes against us already. Despite answering everything clearly and correctly during my Japanese exam, I was told that, even though my score was on the borderline for passing, my answers were "too short". What they were really saying was that my responses weren't American enough. 

One nice thing about living in this area is the abundance of parkland and the number of cycling and walking trails crisscrossing the region. 

All excuses and frustrations aside, I've got to pass next week. While there would be advantages in having our time here extended again (such as in letting Amber finish out the school year), as I've already written, it's time to move on. So wish me 加油, and hopefully I can put up enough of a false front of good old-fashioned American self-confidence to squeak through and thus move on.

This stone, with the word "Amor" chiseled on it, is part of an art installation called "Named Stones", by one J.W. Mahoney. Eight inscribed rocks were installed in 1989 as part of an outdoor sculpture exhibition (one stone has since gone missing). According to the plaque, "Mahoney draws upon the Japanese Shintu (sic) tradition of naming natural objects in order to distinguish the special qualities of each and to encourage quiet contemplation". Shintu? 

Today a field trip to the Voice of America's Chinese section was scheduled for this afternoon, but I skipped it to work on those dreaded mini-reports 小报告. Then, because it was such a beautiful afternoon, I decided to give my surgically-repaired knee a good workout by eschewing the shuttle bus, and walking home instead, following the W & OD Trail much of the way.

In addition to rabbits, I saw lots of birds, chipmunks and squirrels, plus the occasional duck.

It was nice to be outdoors, but the approximately four miles (6.4 kilometers) I walked today was probably overdoing it. Granted, I stopped to take lots of photos, but it still took almost two hours to complete a trip that only required about 70 minutes to do pre-surgery. My knee was definitely feeling the effects when I reached our apartment.

Spring is in the air, and everything is a lovely shade of green. You wouldn't know it from the picture, but Interstate 66 is just a stone's throw away to the right of this photo. 

Still, my knee has made remarkable progress since my operation at the beginning of April. I just wish the same could be said of my Mandarin-speaking abilities.

This section of forest was a reminder that, for the time being at least, I'd better stick to flat, paved surfaces. Rough sections of trail are still to be approached gingerly.






Sunday, May 12, 2013

Amber and the Giant Peach

Scenes from a Saturday afternoon...


Amber poses with a couple of cast members from the Imagination Stage production of Roald Dahl's classic children's tale James and the Giant Peach, staged at the Lerner Family Theatre in suburban Bethesda, Maryland (the same venue where my daughter and I caught of performance of Anime Momotaro a couple of months ago). Having recently had the story read to her first-grade class by her teacher, Amber was really into today's show. The same couldn't be said of her mother, whose Taiwanese upbringing has made her unknowing of the magic of Dahl's stories.


After the show, Amber enjoys a Häagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream cone, while listening to a jazz quintet performing in the background. Our visit to Bethesda today coincided with city's annual Fine Arts Festival.


Yours truly knocks back a bottle...of old-style cream soda. The harder stuff came later


The street near the Lerner Family Theatre was lined with stalls selling paintings and various arts and crafts. I didn't see anything that piqued my interest, but the area around Norfolk Avenue didn't lack for places to eat. 


Amber and I tried not to disturb this bird attempting to take a nap


Bethesda is one of the nation's most affluent and well-educated cities, but not necessarily one of its most attractive.


Later in the afternoon, we returned to Falls Church. After doing some shopping at The Local Market, we walked over to the local Applebee's (my wife's choice) for an early Mother's Day dinner.


Following our evening repast, we strolled over to another local establishment I like to patronize, Red White & Bleu, where I stocked up on vital supplies for the next few days. These study aids are helpful as I prepare for my final Mandarin Chinese 汉语(中文) exam later this month. Assuming I pass (a big "If") and we leave for Shanghai 上海, I'm going to miss the stores in this area.












Thursday, May 9, 2013

Masonry

Because of my recent knee surgery, and subsequent (and ongoing) recovery process, things have been somewhat quiet for the past month. Thanks in part to the physical therapy exercises I'm currently doing, I have much more mobility now in my left knee, but I'm still far from completely recovered. Which has proven to be very frustrating, because I love to walk. I'm getting tired of hobbling and limping.

Anyway, getting to the point of this particular post, we found ourselves in Alexandria this afternoon needing to visit our credit union. The transactions were done much more quickly than anticipated, and with some unanticipated free time and with my camera conveniently on hand, we decided to visit the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the 333-foot (101 meters) tall edifice that sits atop a hill overlooking downtown Alexandria. We've driven by this building on many occasions, and Amber and I once took a look at the outside after closing time, but today was the moment we took the opportunity to finally go inside and ascend the tower. Which can be done at any time during opening hours provided you join the guided tour - ours commenced at 3 p.m.


Inside the main hall, the general stands tall and proud. My daughter, who last week went on a school field trip to Mount Vernon, was suitably impressed.


Lafayette, we are down here. Stained-glass windows of prominent personages from Washington's time line the walls on the left and right sides of the main hall.


On the third floor there are displays on Masonic societies in the United States. My maternal grandfather was at one time a Mason in the U.K.



The fourth floor contains artifacts connected with Washington's life. Some of the odder ones included locks of the first President's hair and a cup made with metal from his first casket. I settled for a picture of this banner carried by American forces during the War of 1812 (which took place thirteen years after Washington's death).


The real reason for visiting the Washington Memorial is to enjoy the views from the ninth-floor observation deck. Here is the view looking down King Street in Alexandria. In the distance loomed ominous-looking rain clouds.


The skies were a little clearer looking towards the District of Columbia


Things were getting breezy as the rain clouds neared, but being wind-swept didn't seem to faze Amber much.


Back inside, we walked through a hallway lined with postcard images of historic Masonic temples from various locales around the U.S. This is Sacramento's house of Masonry, dating from 1913. Below is a picture of what is looks like today:



The George Washington Masonic Memorial from the outside. This was taken as we were leaving for home, and by this point the rain clouds had started to reach us.