Mandarin Exam

The Mandarin Challenge Exam took place on Sunday in Delta, a tiny crevice of rural Vancouver. I guess the small town only sees this much Chinese people two days a year, when the two challenge exams take place. There was no traffic until we were about two blocks away from the test centre. The narrow road was packed with nice cars carrying students chatting away on their cellphones or playing PSP/DS. I texted away on my cellphone while keeping an eye on the people inside the cars, scanning for familiar faces.

Before exiting the car, I checked the mirror more than five times to make sure I look okay, because half of the exam is done in front of a camera for oral evaluation. With that said, I had to dress up and look presentable. I wore a black FCUK long satin top with a brown MaxMara blazer. I paired it with a pair of torn jeans and flats. I wore neutral make-up and contoured like crazy so my face looks smaller on camera.

My mom had to drop me off about 1/2 block away from the test centre because traffic was moving at some ungodly speed and I didn't want to be late. After I walked up to the school, I couldn't even see the front door because it was just heaps of people piled together. Heaps of Chinese-speaking nouveaux-riches kids crowded around the room-assignment boards. I saw Kishi amidst the crowd and ran over to hug her. I was about to freeze to death because it was 8:45am and 4 degrees celsius. Apparently everyone was freezing, but the goddamn invigilators refused to open the doors before the scheduled time, so we stood around the room-assignment boards, freezing our asses off.

Finally, they opened the door at 9:15am, 15 minutes after the scheduled time. When I got to my exam room, I was relieved to find Yii two seats behind me. Just when I was organizing my ID and exam ticket, a very familiar looking girl strolled in. My mind exploded in a heap of OMFGs and WTFs because guess who just walked in? My gf's ex-crush, whom went to art school in gr.8 and I haven't seen since. And she was/is straight. I think. I must admit, she did look pretty good. Black trench coat, cashmere sweater, faded gray Seven jeans, Marc Jacobs flats, and a white Chloe bag. Also, she's prettier than I last seen her. She flashed me a superficial smile and asked me how my gf and I are doing. After she sat down, Yii passed me a note that read (in Chinese): is that "her"? I drew "=v=" without writing anything. Yii, who had known my gf since they were toddlers in China, must've sensed the tension.

Writing, reading, and listening components were really easy. It was the equivalent of gr.3-ish stuff in China, so no sweat. Except the person who read the listening passages had a weird accent, and it pissed me off because why would they hire someone who obviously can't speak Mandarin properly to recite a Mandarin exam tape? It's just so beyond me.

Even though it's called a "challenge" exam, I didn't find it challenging at all. The whole concept of the challenge exam is that you take the exam which is supposedly way harder than what they teach you in school, and get credit for the course without actually taking the course. The Mandarin challenge is a great option for FOB Chinese kids because no one can graduate in Canada without learning a second language. So instead of learning French or Spanish, they take the Chinese exam, get an insanely high mark to polish off their otherwise not-so-pristine transcripts. Although I have five years of French on my transcript, I still want to take Chinese because you can never have enough credits or insanely high grades! Plus, all universities (both Canadian and US) think of me as a native English-speaker because I've lived in Canada for so long, so they'll be impressed with my ability in Chinese.

The oral component was actually very fun. Speaking in front of a camera with two other people for 8 minutes isn't that intimidating. Our topic was good and I made it VERY funny. During my speech, someone shouted "You're awesome" in Chinese to me. I'm sure the camera caught that little piece of audio. People stared at me in awe when I told them I've been here for more than seven years, because clearly my Chinese is better than people who went to middle school in China.

Didn't see Melody at the exam, because during the two-hour break in the middle her gf came to pick her up to go to lunch. They're the epitome of a perfect lesbian couple. Melody's gf is the leader of the Chinese lesbian community in Vancouver, lovingly called "VanLes"...

Anyhow... I shall now stop procrastinating and go shower. After that, I'll work on my math homework... (yuck...)