John's Big Day

Many of you might think the biggest hurdle John has faced this year was getting into the Foreign Service. While that certainly was a challenge (although John made it look easy, as always), some of you might not realize that all this language training he's been doing for the past six months (and it's been a lot - I don't think I've ever seen John work this hard) isn't just so he can go to Russia and communicate. He actually has to take a test before we leave. In fact, we CAN'T leave until he passes. That's right, fail your test, and the State Department will change all of your travel plans and keep you here until you pass it. I can't imagine it happens a lot (we're talking about a ridiculously intelligent group of human beings), but it does happen. Anyone can have a bad day.

Now I'm not telling you all this because I think there's any possibility whatsoever that John won't pass. He will, with flying colors, I know. He only needs a 2/2 to pass, and I believe John has been at that level for at least a couple of months. (Not that I really know anything about how the test is scored - I just know John, and how many hours he's put into Russian, and the fact that he accomplishes everything he sets his mind to.) But I also know you can never have too much support or positive energy thrown your way in life, so I hope you'll all keep John in your thoughts next Thursday when he goes in for his test.

You can do it, sweetie! We're so proud of you!