09 November 2014
The Ghost of Testing Passed
09/11/14 11:36
So on Tuesday we took our Canadian Citizenship test. Overall it went well. We arrived, early as usual. We pushed our way through a milling crowd and headed for the room where the test would be given. Sensing someone who knew what they were doing, the crowd followed us upstairs. Once there we all looked around the room a bit before we all were ordered out because we were too early and they had to finish setting up. After cooling our heels in the hallway for 20 or so minutes they let everyone back in.
Once inside Marsha and I had very different experiences. I sat in the middle section with the rest of the people who had to take the test sat. Marsha was in the end section with the others who were exempt from taking the test sat. My test went well. As I expected it was 20 questions, mostly multiple choice, with a few true or false thrown in. I got the distinct feeling that this was as much of a test of English comprehension as one covering gross knowledge. I had been getting 100% on the practice tests online. I knew the leaders of the ruling party and all of the opposition parties. I knew when Nunavut was created. I knew the name of the Governor General and what his function was. I knew the names of all of the provinces and territories and their capitols. What did they ask? True or False: The Canadian border with the United States was established by the War of 1812? (The answer by the way is False.) Anyway, we had thirty minutes to complete the test, I took around seven. I handed in my paper and was asked to wait in the hallway while the rest finished. As I left I noticed that Marsha was still waiting for her interview. This struck me as odd as with her name being Aalseth I would have thought she’d have been first.
Marsha did not have to take the test, but she did have to do an interview. So she waited and waited and they called people up one after another. Finally she was the only one left. About this time I and the others that had taken the test, were let back into the room. The guy who was running our section told us that now that we had finished the test, they would call us up one at a time to receive our scores and have our final interview. I sat there for a couple of minutes when I noticed Marsha and her interviewer, she had finally been called up, pointing at me and laughing. I didn’t take this as a good sign.
They motioned me over and I sat down. It turned out that they knew that Marsha and I were together so they held her interview till last, with the plan of calling me over as soon as she was done so we’d finish together. She’d passed with flying colours so she was in. I got 90% on the test, 75% was the minimum to pass, and the rest of my interview went very smoothly as well. The one thing that tripped me up was when she asked me for the figure off of my Notice of Assessment. I had no idea what that was. After chatting for a bit I realized she wanted my yearly income. If she’d asked for that, or for the total off of my T4 I would have known what she wanted. In any event I passed too. So now we are both Canadians.
Well, not quite actually. Sometime in January there will be a ceremony where we get sworn in. As they say online “The oath is a declaration of fealty to the Canadian monarch and a promise to abide by Canada's laws and uphold the duties of a Canadian citizen”. Now just to clarify, fealty means loyalty, but because we’re rather British up here they use the more archaic term. Oh and the Canadian Monarch is whomever is sitting on the throne of England. Right now that’s Queen Elizabeth. This may surprise you but I rather look forward to swearing fealty to Queen Elizabeth. She’s been on the throne my whole life so it seems natural. I also look forward to it because it will make me feel like Peregrin Took pledging his sword to Gondor or Meriadoc Brandybuck swearing loyalty to Rohan. Sorry, my Lord of the Rings geek just surfaced. Old habits.
Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Day is Tuesday. Please take time to thank all of those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedoms.
PIX: The memorial Cenotaph in Lantzville. It’s an imposing monument. Along the path are bricks with the names of people from Lantzville who served in wars. Not just WWI or WWII either. I saw names that served up to recent years. Also was one brick for “Canadian Veterans that Rest In Peace in Foreign Grave Sites” which seemed like a nice touch.
Once inside Marsha and I had very different experiences. I sat in the middle section with the rest of the people who had to take the test sat. Marsha was in the end section with the others who were exempt from taking the test sat. My test went well. As I expected it was 20 questions, mostly multiple choice, with a few true or false thrown in. I got the distinct feeling that this was as much of a test of English comprehension as one covering gross knowledge. I had been getting 100% on the practice tests online. I knew the leaders of the ruling party and all of the opposition parties. I knew when Nunavut was created. I knew the name of the Governor General and what his function was. I knew the names of all of the provinces and territories and their capitols. What did they ask? True or False: The Canadian border with the United States was established by the War of 1812? (The answer by the way is False.) Anyway, we had thirty minutes to complete the test, I took around seven. I handed in my paper and was asked to wait in the hallway while the rest finished. As I left I noticed that Marsha was still waiting for her interview. This struck me as odd as with her name being Aalseth I would have thought she’d have been first.
Marsha did not have to take the test, but she did have to do an interview. So she waited and waited and they called people up one after another. Finally she was the only one left. About this time I and the others that had taken the test, were let back into the room. The guy who was running our section told us that now that we had finished the test, they would call us up one at a time to receive our scores and have our final interview. I sat there for a couple of minutes when I noticed Marsha and her interviewer, she had finally been called up, pointing at me and laughing. I didn’t take this as a good sign.
They motioned me over and I sat down. It turned out that they knew that Marsha and I were together so they held her interview till last, with the plan of calling me over as soon as she was done so we’d finish together. She’d passed with flying colours so she was in. I got 90% on the test, 75% was the minimum to pass, and the rest of my interview went very smoothly as well. The one thing that tripped me up was when she asked me for the figure off of my Notice of Assessment. I had no idea what that was. After chatting for a bit I realized she wanted my yearly income. If she’d asked for that, or for the total off of my T4 I would have known what she wanted. In any event I passed too. So now we are both Canadians.
Well, not quite actually. Sometime in January there will be a ceremony where we get sworn in. As they say online “The oath is a declaration of fealty to the Canadian monarch and a promise to abide by Canada's laws and uphold the duties of a Canadian citizen”. Now just to clarify, fealty means loyalty, but because we’re rather British up here they use the more archaic term. Oh and the Canadian Monarch is whomever is sitting on the throne of England. Right now that’s Queen Elizabeth. This may surprise you but I rather look forward to swearing fealty to Queen Elizabeth. She’s been on the throne my whole life so it seems natural. I also look forward to it because it will make me feel like Peregrin Took pledging his sword to Gondor or Meriadoc Brandybuck swearing loyalty to Rohan. Sorry, my Lord of the Rings geek just surfaced. Old habits.
Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Day is Tuesday. Please take time to thank all of those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedoms.
PIX: The memorial Cenotaph in Lantzville. It’s an imposing monument. Along the path are bricks with the names of people from Lantzville who served in wars. Not just WWI or WWII either. I saw names that served up to recent years. Also was one brick for “Canadian Veterans that Rest In Peace in Foreign Grave Sites” which seemed like a nice touch.