Tag: DLI

Everything continues to go very well here in Amman. About the only thing I can complain about is having a bed and a couple of couches that I think came from the Inquisition. But, I'm working on having that stuff fixed, enshallah. For now, my day-to-day activities consist of going to the embassy for anywhere between one and four hours, depending on what I am trying to accomplish, going for a run every other day to keep preparations up for the Dead To Red Ultra Marathon Relay next month, and spending time getting the last bits of business concluded with getting settled into a new place. When I have time, I head out to explore some area of the city I'm not yet familiar with. It sounds like a pretty easy life and in truth it really is. I feel a little guilty that I have it so good right now, but then I think about just how involved DLI was for a year and a half and that keeps the guilt to a minimum. The point for this year is not to be sitting in an office 24/7 looking at email and writing reports... its to get OUT of the office and LEARN. To help me do that, my bosses have arranged for me to be embedded with a Jordanian Army unit for about six months. So, the casual business hours will soon end and I will begin making day-long trips (and overnighters) to hang out with the troops... something I am really looking forward to doing considering I have not been around Soldiers doing real Army things in a very long time.

As far as travel goes, it seems that I will be making my first regional travel happen very soon. After the race next month, the other ICT'ers and I will be traveling to Egypt for a few weeks. I've already talked to Tom, who is now in Cairo with his family, and we are looking forward to hanging out again. The trip should be very memorable, both culturally and professionally. We will be seeing a lot of the country and learning a lot from the Embassy folks, and I look forward to sharing some of that story here.

To those of you who have made comments on this blog and sent emails, I just want to say thank you for taking an interest and posing your questions. I hope everyone reading will follow your example and ask questions if they have any. And to those of you who I've spoken to who are already out there serving, again thank you for what you do and be safe out there.

Here's a pic of my favorite street-side fare... chicken shawarma! Think of it as the Arabic equivalent of a hot dog...
 

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Well, getting out of Monterey proved to be a logistical nightmare. Overseas assignment into a furnished apartment meant sending three different shipments (two to Jordan, one to storage), putting the truck on a boat to Jordan from a port north of San Fran, and shipping the bike via private hauler to my parents' house. Plus, packing the things I need to have with me for a month of leave and travel to Jordan. But, with a little help from my very cool neighbors, I was able to get it all done and leave Monterey less than a week after graduation.

It's good to be home, but I've found that I have a lot of nervous energy and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. I've spent a good bit of time studying in the hopes that my request to retest the DLPT before departing will be approved. If so, I should test sometime in the first week of January. Other than that, I've been catching up on sleep and tomorrow I start heading to the gym. I'm still trying to work out a bum shoulder, and I seriously need to get my cardio back to where it was a year ago. In a way, I sort of feel like I'm putting myself back together again physically and mentally. It's crazy what a year and a half of grinding your brain will do to you. Now I understand the strange look of sympathy everyone who had been to DLI had on their faces when I first showed up there!

There is no substitute for spending time with family. Being home I've realized just how much time I've spent away from them over the last 11 years. I'm glad we are taking a trip to Disney World this coming weekend. Provided my quest to find the perfect point and shoot camera goes well, I should have some fun pictures for my next post.

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Well... I've been putting off this update long enough. Unfortunately for yours truly I was unable to cross the level 2 threshold on the DLPT in Listening, finishing with a 1+. As such, I will not receive a diploma, but rather a certificate of completion. It has been a difficult week. The news came as I was on my way to the east coast for the Thanksgiving holiday. I had intended to celebrate, but that was very hard to do considering I didn't make the cut. Needless to say, I am quite disappointed. It has been 16 months of sitting in class and beating my brains out at home, so falling short is a sour pill to swallow. But... I'm determined not to let it get the better of me. I know I am capable of beating this thing, it just wasn't my day. Unfortunately, the school does not allow retesting without several months of additional class. So, I will look to the future and dedicate myself to continuous study until I am able to test again. If at any point in the future I test above a 2 (and inevitably I will), all I need do is notify the school and they will issue the diploma.

The good news is that I excelled with speaking. I've always thought it the least-emphasised subject during the year, and I put a lot of work into seeing to it that I could impress the testers. The result was that I was one of only two students to receive a 2 in Speaking. To me, this is the most important skill for an FAO, being able to converse with Arabs in their language without sounding like a complete novice. In the end, my scores were 1+ in Listening, 2 in Reading, and 2 in Speaking. The standards for the class are 2/2/1+. So, I have the right numbers, just not in the correct order. I was very pleased the the Speaking, but I'm still scratching my head about the other two. If you recall, these are the exact same scores I received after the second semester DLPT, months ago. I have to explanation to offer as to why I did not improve. It seems completely counterintuitive to me that soooooo many additional hours of training could not translate to a better score.

My teaching team leader has the theory that my brain is far too analytical. Those that know me might agree. He feels that I thought too hard about lower level questions and tricked myself into choosing the wrong answer. Perhaps he's right... After all, I can understand every word of a good portion of the test, but the answers are designed to trip you up, and two answers out of four possible choices are almost always so close that it comes down to reading the mind of the test makers. One of them being "more" correct.

Whatever the cause, what's done is done and now I have to move on. What has happened to me is not at all uncommon. Lots of mysterious things happen to students on the DLPT. As frustrated as I might be right now, I can still look forward to being in Jordan in a month and a half, and I will be back to confront this test again, in six months or sooner.

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I was planning on starting this entry off by talking about how life is treating me here at the last 100 meters of this marathon of learning Arabic, but in light of what has happened at Ft. Hood this last week I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on its affects as someone who has learned a great deal about Arabs and Muslims over the last year and a half.

When I returned from lunch the other day reports of the shootings had just begun to broadcast. We all sat down to start our afternoon classes and one by one students would come in asking "have you heard".

Our teaching team leader, a Sudanese man with a PhD, happened to be teaching our section that hour and I asked him the same. His first comment was... and I'll never forget this... "please tell me it was not an Arab or a Muslim". Those words resonated with me because I suddenly became more aware of what it meant to HIM. He is an American citizen, just like you and me. He loves this country, just as we do.

Most of the time he knows more about this country than those of us who were born here simply because he had to WORK to earn the privilege of calling himself and American. That comment made me realize the plight of Muslim Americans. I felt a degree of sadness because they are continually being linked with extremism simply because of their faith.

As I have come to appreciate, Muslim Americans are here exactly as the rest of us. They came from foreign countries to make a better life for themselves in a land that promises freedom and rewards hard work. With the exception of the slave trade, native Americans and indentured servitude, didn't most of us come here by the same road?

I see Arabs and Muslims every day. Most are teachers, some are Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. They are ALL fundamentally like anyone else I know. They work hard, play hard, love their families, and their neighbors. They are some of the most friendly and hospitable people you will ever meet. They want the same things as everyone else: to earn a decent living, provide for their families, enjoy life, and better themselves. They are here because they accept our culture and respect others'. All they ask is for the same respect and opportunity the rest of us enjoy.

It is sometimes too easy to act on our emotions and condemn an entire group because of the viciousness of a few individuals. But we must resist the temptation to lump the overwhelming majority of this group who live peacefully among us into a category with the same types of individuals who use a twisted version of religion to justify acts of violence. The shooter at Ft. Hood is an example of what these Americans stand against. They are no more accepting of his actions than any non-Muslims would be of a crazed Southern Baptist or Catholic opening fire at a crowded mosque. If you think that would be a good idea, I pray you will consider what gives you the right to think as such. If you think the right comes from God, then I pray you will also consider what makes you different from those you hate. This country is called a melting pot for a reason. America does not belong to any one group, sect, religion, race, creed, or otherwise. It belongs to Americans, ALL of them. It is an IDEA, unique in the history of the world. It was built by the blood and sweat of people who came here from everywhere, not just Europe. I have personal friends who are Muslims and they are already telling me stories of rude comments being made to them because of what happened at Hood. I am certain this was on my teacher's mind when made his comment, likely thinking of his children and what they might suffer because of this man's actions.

Just imagine that the shooter in Texas was someone from your own group. See what I'm getting at here? I will get off my soapbox now...

Okay, on to other news. As you can see... new postings are far and few between these days. I am holding my nose to the grindstone and there isn't really anything new to tell you. We are practicing, practicing, reviewing, and practicing... even on Saturdays now. My oral proficiency interview is on the 18th, so I have 10 days to ready myself for that. Then we start the DLPT the next week. The light is at the end of the tunnel. I don't plan on posting again until its all done, unless something significant happens between now and then. Wish me luck!

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My apologies to those who are reading this blog regularly for the scarcity of updates here in the past couple of weeks. As things start to come to a close here, the to-do list starts to grow. Not only am I starting to kick into high gear on the studying, but the I'm also figuring out the pieces of the logistics puzzle for leaving Monterey in December and conducting the move to Jordan at the beginning of next year. This move is a bit more complicated than most others have been because the considerations are somewhat unique. For example, I've been talking via email with some of the ICT'ers in Jordan to get a read on what accommodations I can expect. That information is going to determine what, if any, of my furniture is going to need to be shipped. Then I have to figure out what to do with vehicles and the like. As of now, I think one of the faculty at school is interested in buying my truck. Then there's also getting the diplomatic passport and visas, updating my official photo, rummaging through my stuff to prepare to pack up, figuring out my travel plans, etc. And of course, there's always the ever-present need to prepare for the DLPT and OPI coming in just a few short weeks. To that end, I've been spending more time working after school with the department chairperson to improve my weakest areas, and I'm about to add Saturdays as well. AND... I've had to do some physical therapy after classes to work on my shoulder (injured earlier this year). So bottom line here is, things have been quite busy!

But, it hasn't been all work and no play. I've done two very interesting things lately. First, Tom and I (and another Army buddy) decided to use a couple of weekends to get our PADI Open Water scuba certifications. We have our open water dives this coming weekend and we're all looking forward to that. We don't really have the time, but we wanted to get it done before we go to the Middle East because there will be some great diving opportunities there. Additionally, I used the Columbus Day weekend to travel to MEXICO to meet up with some of my old friends from my first duty station in Kansas. It was a great chance to pull back from the daily routine here and truly feel "away from it all" and recharge my batteries for the last big push at school.

My progress with school seems to be going okay. My biggest problem right now is getting enough sleep and exercise. Still haven't managed to find a balance between those things and schoolwork. Fortunately for my ego, it isn't just me. Almost everyone I know is in the same boat.
 

Me having breakfast in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this past weekend. And for the record, that's iced tea in the foreground. Ha!

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I couldn't be happier to have the end somewhere in sight. Seems like this last 14 months has all been one big blur. I think perhaps the thing I am looking forward to most is getting my personality back.

Maybe it has been my own doing but it seems like I've really lost touch with the "old" me during this last year. My overall level of activity has diminished significantly and my normally active self has taken a back seat to the got-things-to-do side of me. Aside from that, I'm also looking forward to all the challenges and excitement of the year ahead. Whatever the future holds, it is going to feel good to have DLI behind me. I've learned some valuable things this last year... but I'll save the victory speech for later. I still have to get through 8 more weeks of school and it's crunch time, as they say. I've committed to expending every bit of energy I have left from now until the end.

That commitment didn't come without motivation. We recently took the 301 exam (first mid-term, third semester) and lets just say the results were not that good. Half the class failed at least one of the Reading and Listening exams, and the rest barely passed. I really think the school needs to re-look the format of these tests, and we've all stated as much. But, as with most big institutions, someone somewhere put a lot of work into making things as they are and they aren't in the mood generally to make changes, especially when the recommendations are coming from students with bad grades. My gripe isn't so much about the authentic materials being sampled during the test, its the fact that the questions are worded so strongly and the answers (multiple choice) are so close in meaning that even a native speaker would have difficulty getting them all correct. Additionally, you aren't permitted to take notes on any of the listening passages, which makes keeping track of two-minute long news clips challenging to begin with. Basically, you have to be near-native in your abilities to have even a chance at an A. But, enough griping. Don't want to make this place seem ridiculous, I just think it could be a little more reasonable when it comes to testing format.

On a lighter side of things, we had a great immersion program this past week. 3 days of nothing but Arabic seemed a lot smoother than the previous two immersion sessions. All of us were more confident and I have to say it was really fun this time. Also, Tom and I are joining another buddy to get our scuba certifications this coming weekend. I'm really looking forward to FINALLY getting in the water after being here for so long without even putting my feet in it.

This is what the inside of our classrooms look like.

Here's a shot of our Military Training Day, held this weekend. We have to maintain our skills as best we can while we are in school. In this case we are using a firing range simulator to "qualify" on the M9 pistol.

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The beat goes on here in Monterey. I've been sort of quiet lately because frankly there hasn't been much to update you all on. Day to day life rarely changes here, as everyone is stuck in a very regular schedule. I did recently have the opportunity to travel out of town for a few days, which was great because it gave me a change of scenery and a chance to see some very good friends.

We are now fully into the third and final semester of training, and I think just about everyone is running out of gas. I can't believe it has been 13 months since we started... the time has really flown by. But, as I look back I have to be amused at just how difficult we used to think things were and how far we've come, only to replace the old difficulties with new ones. What I mean by that is most everyone is at around a level 2 in the language, which used to seem impossible to us. Now, we are all trying desperately to make the leap to level 3, which is twice as hard.

On another random note, I recently ran into someone who went to officer basic with me over 10 years ago. We recognized one another after all that time and I had to say it felt good to be a part of an organization that lets you make so many connections and keep them over so many years.

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We took the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) for the first time last week. It was a nervous time, as this is the first real indicator of how we've progressed in the course. Academic grades don't really count for much in the final analysis because they are based on tests that are narrow in scope and you can do well on them if you have excellent short-term memory. The DLPT is tested entirely from authentic recordings and reading passages and is cumulative, therefore you are really getting tested on what you KNOW of the language and not just what you can memorize between exams. The goal of every student is to be at a 2+ level in Listening, 2+ in Reading, and 2+ in Speaking by the time we leave here. More realistically, most students are happy to come way with a 2 in each of those categories.

It shows a decent level of ability and a solid foundation upon which to build once you are no longer in school. For FAO's, we're doing fine if we get a 2 across the board. The DLPT only measures Listening and Reading, and every Arabic student has the opportunity to take a "practice" DLPT at the end of the second semester. As the title says, I received a 1+ in Listening and a 2 in Reading on my crack at it.

Historically speaking, its quite possible to increase your performance in each of those categories by 1/2 a point during the third semester.

If you were quick with the math of what I just said, you may wonder why it takes two semesters to get a 2, for example, and the third semester only gets you a half a point. Well, the progression from one level to the next looks like an inverted pyramid with horizontal lines spaced evenly apart such that each section has more area than the one below. What that means is there is far more work required to get from a 2 to a 2+ than there was to get from, say... a 1 to a 1+. This is not a hard and fast rule. Some students manage to pull off a whole point or more of increase in the last semester with a lot of effort, but its rare. Also, the DLPT is always multiple choice. So... being a lucky guesser sometimes plays a part in the final grade.

At the end of the day, I was very pleased to receive what I did. In my mind I am where I need to be for the end of semester two and I can feel confident that I will meet the standards that I need to meet in order to function well during in-country training next year in Jordan.

Speaking of which, the time for leaving Monterey is sneaking up quickly and I'm starting to really get excited about what lies ahead.

More on that in my next post!

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Well sports fans, seems I had a few technical difficulties last night that prevented me from updating my blog. I had everything typed out and when I started adding photos it erased the entire thing. I'll have to get back to it again later in the week but for now I wanted to give everyone a brief update. Had a really excellent weekend, to include a very late night/early morning at my favorite Arabic restaurant in Carmel called "Dametras", as well as an air show on Sunday in Salinas, CA where I had the chance to link up with some of the Golden Knights briefly. It was good to be out and about having a bit of fun.

But, the real news came yesterday when I learned I scored a B+ in Listening and an A- in Reading on the midterms I took last Friday.

This is huge because it stopped the bleeding on my GPA, which was starting to concern me. This week, however, I'm in the midst of the "practice" DLPT (Defense Language Proficiency Test). Its exactly like the one we will take at the end of the course, and It is MUCH harder than I expected. Since it is all multiple choice, final scores are going to come down to how good of a guesser I am.

As I said, quick update this morning. Gotta head in to take the next portion of the DLPT. I'll let you all know how I do!

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Well, I'm back at it again. Thank God for one-week academic breaks! I really needed it. My mind was worn out and I needed to step away for a while. The trip back to see my family in NC was perfect. I made few plans for the week and took each day as it came. I loved NOT planning and being on a schedule for once. I did take an impromptu trip to the mountains for two days, but other than that... just hung out with the family and some good friends. I even did some liesure reading! Whoa!

But... now it's back to work, and crunch time. Just over four months to go and my game just flat-out sucks right now. Just being honest. The break gave me time to reflect on what I needed to do and I've re-dedicated myself to getting it done. Better time management and a study plan are the jumping off points. Beyond that, better use of available resources and less distractors (some Call of Duty 4 players out there may find their scores going up now...).

It's good to be back

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