Saturday, December 4, 1982
Kirby picked me up at 7:00 and drove in the dark to Bern,
joining the Autobahn a little before Münchenbuchsee, since they opened up
another stretch of the highway. Found the U.S. Embassy at Jubilaumstrasse 93 at
about 7:35. I went to mail the last of my Christmas cards, and we waited until
7:45 before going to the front door which was locked. Opening hours wouldn’t
begin until 9:30, yet we were supposed to be there at 8:00. I found a doorbell
to push, and a Marine arrived at a booth inside. He said over the intercom,
“Good morning, sir. What can I do for you?” Kirby replied we were there for the
Foreign Service Exam, and the Marine asked his name. After Kirby gave his name,
the Marine buzzed the door and we entered, and another girl followed us in. A
second door was buzzed and we all entered. I stepped up inside an airline metal
detector machine facing the Marine’s booth, and had to show the contents of my
purse, then turn around. Kirby had to turn around, and then the other girl. The
Marine asked the other girl’s name, but never asked mine! A sliding door
opened, and the Marine led us upstairs. At the top was a gate where the Marine
punched in a code to open it. A nice bearded gentleman in designer jeans greeted
us and sent us in to the conference room. There was a table with eight chairs,
as there were eight examinees!
 |
| Foreign Service Exam ticket of admission |
A girl who was an exchange student at the
University of Fribourg arrived, then a guy who lived in Avenches over the Roman
amphitheater, who was a little strange. Another girl who had been traveling for
six months, and an older man who appeared to already work at the Embassy. One
girl was missing as we began the exam at 8:30. Hoo boy! The Functional
Background test determined that I have none. We had three hours and 40 minutes
to do 241 questions that involved a lot of reading and analyzing, some math,
business, history, art, management, law, geography, etc., etc., etc., etc.! I was flabbergasted. I
expected it to be hard, but not impossible! At about 12:20 we had a 10-minute
break and I went to the restroom. We began again with the English Expression
section of the exam. We had an hour to do 75 questions, and I finished 74. Not
impossible, but very difficult. I figure I got five answers correct, but those
points will be cancelled out by all the wrong guesses! We were done at 13:30.
Kirby and I went to leave, but we couldn’t figure out how to open the gate. So
we pushed the elevator button, but you needed a key to push a button for a
floor. The gentleman in jeans then came to push a button around the corner from
the gate to open it. We walked downstairs, and had to wait for the Marine to
open the sliding door. He buzzed us through one door, and waited for it to
close before buzzing us through the second door. Free at last!
We drove into Bern and since we couldn’t find a parking
spot, I jumped out of the car to buy our lunch from Wendy’s. We parked in a lot
near Kirchenfeldbrücke/bridge and I
went to meet Jan at the clock tower. I saw the psychiatrist Dr. Bändli who was
also waiting there. Jan arrived at 14:30 and we did some window shopping before
meeting Kirby at15:00 at Heimatwerk/local
crafts. We decided to split up to shop and meet at 16:40. I went to Loeb to
wander around and they were closing up at 16:15 instead of 16:30 like we
thought. I went to the movie board and there was a street entertainer with a
cat and two mice. Jan & Kirby arrived at 16:40 and we decided there wasn’t
any movie worth seeing. We went to McDonald’s where I just had a shake. Went to
pick up the car. You had to pre-pay in a machine and get a ticket to exit the
lot, like at Journal Square in Jersey City. Jan drove us to their house where
we had coffee and a piece of truffe cake that Jan got in Bern on the
recommendation of her mother. We started looking at Jan’s art books. I didn’t
get home until 21:30, and found that Marsha C had cooked a great dinner; pork
chops cacciatore with sliced potatoes. She generously warmed some up for me,
and we talked until midnight.
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