Month: February 2009

I had my stupid Life in the UK exam scheduled for this afternoon. I’ve been stressing about it for the last week and was very much looking forward to getting it done and over with. I’d taken the whole day off so that I could go over my notes in the morning and then take the test.

So, after finally finding out where I had to go and getting there, I am informed that people in the session just before mine are running late. We’re also told that we have incentive to pass the test today because the testing center will not be administering those tests anymore because, to put it bluntly, the money isn’t worth the effort and aggro. They’re the only testing center in Cambridge, and the nearest one after that is either Norwich or Peterborough. They only do one weekly session – Friday afternoons – and they’re booked solid for the last session.

So, we wait. And we wait. 20 minutes later, they finally start registering us for the tests. Just as we’re about to start the test, the power goes bye-bye and all the computers shut down. Turns out that the whole block has suddenly gone dark – they blame the road works. To make a very long and frustrating story short, we waited in a dark office from 2:45 to 3:45 and then they canceled the session. They held off as much as they could, but in the end they had to throw in the towel. The testing system is linked to a central Home Office server and the system locks everybody out at 5pm. We were given 2 choices: get a refund for the test or come back next Friday morning when they’re going to hold a session for those of us who can come back.

So, joy. I’m going to keep going over this shit for another week. This does not make me happy.

I’ve been studying the material for my life in the UK exam, which is this coming Friday. The stuff I need to know is, to put it mildly, brain numbing. I’m almost done with the first-pass of the chapters I need to study and have most of them condensed in hand-written notes (a carry-over from my university days). I’ll have all of tomorrow and most of Friday to review it. I’m a bit anxious, to be honest. I’ve heard that 1/3 people fail the test. I can take it as many times as I need to, but I don’t want to have to spend more time thinking about it and I have to pay £35 a pop to take the test. I also need to wait a week before a re-test and I don’t want to deal with that shit any longer than I need to. I guess that part of my anxiety is just remnants of my university exam panic attack moments surfacing from the deep. I just want it done and over with.