Chinese Credit and Hymns

I fully understand now why UF makes you get a form signed by practically everyone before you leave to study abroad, because transferring credit is thorny once you've returned. I filled out the forms, of course, but since my program was a "UF approved" program and not a "UF" program, I had to agree to take a test to prove that I learned something while I was gone.

I took one and a half years of Chinese here, then went to China for the spring and summer semesters. In theory, I covered three semesters-worth of Chinese in the spring (for a total of three years-worth), and then was enrolled for a two-month summer session as well. Testing out of third year Chinese, as one of my Chinese friends in Chengdu put it, is just a piece of cake. (Idioms--close just doesn't cut them. Or should I say, close but no cigars.)

But then I came back, took the test, and bombed. Harder than I've bombed any test I can remember. The test I was taking was the final exam for the third year class, which is highly tailored to having been in the class. I wasn't in their class and didn't study their book, so even though I learned a lot, the Chinese I learned wasn't the Chinese they would've learned. I failed this test so bad I wasn't even phased that I had forgotten to fill out the essay portion on the back. The teacher, who's usually very stern, was really nice about my (rightful) unconfidence. "There's a speaking portion to the test, too," she said. "So even if you didn't do well on reading and writing, your interview could bump up your score."

That afternoon, I received an email from her which said, in effect, that we didn't need to bother with the interview.

Before that could happen, though, I had to turn in my test and leave. I had remained pretty composed while I was failing, but then I went outside, called my mom, and cried like I haven't since elementary school. It was so hard to go through my whole time in China knowing that my efforts might not be good enough, and then they weren't.

My situation got worse. The email that afternoon followed the brisk assessment of my test with this sentence: "The next issue is will you be able to get the credits necessary for Intermediate Chinese second semester." Let me remind you, kind reader, of what this means. I was being asked to take a second test to make sure that me being in China for more than a semester studying Chinese full time taught me enough Chinese to match being in America for a semester taking one class in Chinese.

My reaction, ironically, was rather Chinese. I felt like, while I could see how this would follow the rules to a "T", that just asking the question was demeaning and would only make me lose face. I was sure that this test would be structured exactly like the last one: highly specific with little chance to succeed. And what if I did fail? No credit for all the Chinese learning I had done. Furthermore, if I didn't take third year Chinese now (which at this point was my best option) then I couldn't be a Chinese major.

I admit, I didn't expect to even have a Chinese major when I entered college, so not graduating with one wouldn't be heartbreaking. But to go from thinking that I would just take an easy placement test and then be three classes away from fulfilling the requirements to the major all the way to the idea that it might not even be possible for me to finish the major--that's a big shift.

So I worried about my second test all weekend and tried to be reassured by my friends' well-wishing words. Then yesterday morning I took the test and did FREAKIN' AWESOME! The test wasn't the same; written passages were general, reading passages tested the most mainstream vocabulary, and I passed.

It will be slightly galling to be in the same class tomorrow with Allison, one of my friends who didn't go to China. But I clearly don't know everything they're going to learn, and it will help to be in a Chinese environment regularly.

One anecdote along with this: my friend Jenna's voicemail instructions ask you to sing her a song. I had talked with her a long time about taking this test, and after I took it, I wanted to let her know that I passed. I got a little song worked up. (I thought it was just a really short song but apparently it's only the last verse. The last line is normally "Amen.")

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
I passed-my-Chinese-test.

What was interesting is that since I took my test yesterday morning and didn't find out officially that I passed until this morning, I had this song on my mind for a whole day. And I realized that even if somehow I had failed the test, my singing this song to myself all day wouldn't be a waste, because it's what God deserves even when life is going horribly. And that's how Chinese and theology mix.