The final days of training

I...am now a redhead. And not just boring "red." Oh no. This is a shocking, magenta-red. No one was ever naturally this color. Everyone tells me I look great, hot, and "a little bit crazy."

I just had to go look in the mirror again, because it's just that fabulous.

When did this happen? Well, yesterday was our big end-of-training language test. It's called an LPI, which stands for Language Proficiency Interview. (At least, I think that's what it stands for.) The LPI is some sort of standard measure of fluency in a language; I think it's an international standard. All trainees take the LPI at the end of training, and again at the end of service. If you're curious, you can probably to a search to find descriptions of the levels.

I'll find out next week what my score was, but I expect to be Intermediate Low. Before I actually had the interview I thought I might manage Intermediate Mid, but then I forgot everything and stumbled over everything I tried to say. Usually when I'm talking to a native speaker they'll help me along with words I struggle with. (In Russian, every word can take about 6 different endings, depending on how the word is being used, whether it's plural or singular, and whether it's a masculine, feminine, or neuter word. These endings are called cases, and they are a bitch.) Anyway, during the LPI the interviewer does not help you figure out which case, or even let you know if you fished out the right one. This really threw me. Then there's also the fact that you're being recorded and there's a big fat tape recorder sitting in front of you.

Anyway, I think I'll probably get Intermediate Low, which is not a bad score. It means I can hold a simple conversation, but I screw up a lot. Par for the course.

It's all nonsense anyway. What does the test mean? Nothing. You know your language ability a lot better than the tester, and what really matters is how well you can do when alone at site.

I think, because I've been out of school and working for a few years, this whole thing has been easier for me than most of the others. I haven't taken a test that meant anything in 5 years, so I have little problem remembering that absolutely nothing is riding on the outcome of this one.

But the last two weeks all we've been talking about is the LPI. Our 4 hours of daily language lessons have focused on reviewing material that might be covered during the LPI and "practicing" interviewing each other. We've also been all at the end of our proverbial ropes, completely stressed out and ragged and ready for training to be over. Well, the LPI pretty much signals the end of training. No more language lessons, no more teaching until we're at site. Just packing and saying goodbye.

All of which leads back to my hair. I have always wanted red hair. I tried to die it a couple of times in high school and college, but it never came out. Mostly it was almost undetectable. And then I grew up and went to work and it was less common to die one's hair fun colors, not to mention pricey.

Well, in Ukraine, a lot of women die their hair. And my fabulous shade of red is actually pretty common, on both young and old alike. And I thought, "why not?" (Decision-making was also helped along by having a couple of friends die their hair, too.) So on Tuesday we went and made appointments, and as soon as I was finished with my LPI I hurried over to the salon.

It was quite a splurge. It cost 47 hriven: 20 hr each for 2 boxes of hair die, and 7 hr to the woman who died it for me. This works out to about $9.00, and is a significant portion of my current income. (I get about 500 hr a month during training.)

I had a moment, as the first bit of die was hitting my scalp, where I wondered what the hell I was doing. But really I love it--and I'll probably try to keep it up, at least for a while, instead of letting it grow out or dieing it back to brown when the roots start to really show.