Foreign Service Exam:

I was going to get up this morning and take the Foreign Service Exam. But as I thought about it over the last couple of days, I came to a couple of conclusions. One is that I'm not ready to leave the US and all my support structures to go overseas, to live in a foreign city for two years, make new friends, learn to do a new job, and start over. I'm not sure that's what I want (though it might be). Two is that I hadn't studied, had been sleeping terribly for the last few days, and was exhausted and very unlikely to pass. Now, if I were sure this was what I wanted, I'd have taken it anyway, since even if I failed, it would be good practice for the next one, but since I'm not sure, it might be a waste of time. Three is that I want to give whatever job I end up with next year a chance. If I'm thinking about doing the Foreign Service, making plans for going overseas and all that, if I expect to leave in a while, then I don't know that I could do that. I'll decide what I want in a year, and until then, I'm better off not thinking about it. Of course, I may regret this if I don't get a good job for next year, but I'm still hoping.

So instead I'm going to look over some stuff for an interview in a couple of weeks and go hang around downtown and go to the Bourgeois Pig to drink tea and study a bit. Should be a relaxing-ish day.