TOP

TOP (pronounced Tee Oh Pee)- These three letters have been echoing in my head the past few days... Like images from a bad dream which keep returning.

TOP stands for Test Of Proficiency- Huayu. Still don't get it? It's like the TOEFL for Mandarin Chinese, in Taiwan. And though I have taken it four times now, I still haven't passed it.

I woke up this morning at 7:36. Then I went to the bathroom to shave and brush my teeth. I don't know what happens in the morning, but when I looked at the clock again it was already 8:30. The test was at 9. As I walked out of the apartment, I debated whether to get my umbrella. I remembered seeing a forecast of rainy days throughout the week, so I decided to take it. I also put on some flip-flops.

Outside, the sun shone bright. I rushed to the Family Mart around the corner to pick up some brain food- that's right, my brain needs food, preferably protein, caffeine, and glucose. There were no egg sandwiches (my preferred form of protein in the morning) but I did find some tuna onigiri (the rice triangles wrapped in dried seaweed) and a Weider Vitamin pack (it's like this space-age looking pouch which contains a kind of jell-o which is supposed to be good for you). I added a black coffee- no sugar- and went for the counter.

Twenty-five minutes to go. I rush to the MRT (metro) while eating (drinking?) the jello stuff. It feels like forever before the train gets there. In the train, I'm not supposed to but I start to open the coffee and gulp it down. There is no eating or drinking on the Taipei MRT. That's even stricter than Japan.

When I arrive at the destination station, Gongguan, I look around to see if anyone has an umbrella but nobody does. I wonder if I look like an idiot for having one.

When I get out of the station I start running, as much as you can 'run' with flip-flops anyway, and end up being right on time. The test is actually a "pilot" test, which means the results are not official. I don't know why they need to have these so often, but the upside is they are free, and it's good practice for the real one.

I signed up for two tests today, one basic and one intermediate. By now I should be able to do the basic one no problem, but I still have trouble with the listening part. They speak very fast in the recorded dialogues, and you only get to hear them once. Sometimes I wonder if the people who made the test are secretly trying to take their revenge on the people who write the TOEFL tests.

After the first test people rush out. A Japanese girl followed by a man speaking Spanish to his friend. I walk out, go to a bench, and pull the tuna rice-ball out of my bag. I am already hungry (guess that jell-o thing doesn't have so much energy after all).

Before long, the second test starts. At first I think it's not that hard, there are a few words I don't understand but I can understand them from the context. But near the end of the test, in the reading comprehension section, the passages get longer and longer, and I don't understand what it's talking about. I have ten minutes left so I mark the rest of my answer sheet as 'C'. I hear 'C' is the best answer.

When I walk out of the second test, there are big storm clouds overhead and big raindrops falling down. I'm glad I brought my umbrella.