Chimera Song Mosaic
Sunday, May 18, 2003
But I am very good at editing, punctuation, etc. (Even if you see something that indicates the contrary to this on this blog--I am lazy too and forgetful!)
I LOVE foreign films.
I am able to empathize almost to a fault.
I just found out that these qualities render me perfect for a job as a diplomat. Let me explain: I went to my brother's (Brother Louie's) graduation ceremony last weekend (he graduted with a BS in Petroleum Engineering and a minor in Russian from Texas A & M University (Whoop!)--this will come up later), and I talked to his high school buddy, Ben, who just graduated from B.Y.U. after spending two years in Taiwan (he's Mormon), and Ben told me that he had just taken the public service exam for potential diplomats. When he told me what was on the exam, I flipped out becuase it is the perfect exam for me! He said he was graded on his grammar, punctuation, and clarity of writing. Then he was asked whether the United States should be involved in nation building or other international endeavors--why or why not? (Hello! Humanitarian efforts!) Then he was asked how many foriegn films he had seen in the past year. Well, Ben hadn't seen many, but I am a complete foreign film addict and have started The Foreign Film Association here at my community college (we show films for free to students and the community). Ben said that speaking Chinese (which he does) is an asset, but speaking Spanish, Russian, or Arabic is better. My Spanish is okay, and, okay--I don't speak Arabic, but I have been wanting to learn. There was other stuff, but 3 out of 4 is not bad!
Why am I telling you this? Because there is a good chance that, if you are reading this post, you have an MFA degree in writing, and you might be languishing in a community college, pouring lots of effort into your teaching but almost none into your writing. And this could be the job for you! Think about it: "diplomatic immunity / in every ghetto community" (Hill).
Okay, but then I said to Ben, "Hey! Do you have to agree with the President?" And Ben said, "Well, you cannot publicly disagree with the President's policies. You have your orders."
This is going to be a problem. ;)
