考試報到排在早上八點四十. 六點四十鬧鐘響, 全家進入備戰狀態. 安安平常要摸個三十分鐘才穿好衣服. 今天十分鐘解決. 早餐帶在車上吃. 七點三十前送進了學校. 再塞個車開進紐瓦克, 已經八點二十. 還好有朋友昨天考試, 指引我們哪裡有停車場. 我們選擇停在building 側面的停車場, 因為比較便宜. 停車加上走路大約八點四十準時報到.
接下去便是漫長等待. 老爺很快就被叫進去. 不過, 卻等了很久也不見他出來. 後來據他說, 他跟考官聊天去了. 聊了很久, 考官才跟他說 ”我們來考試吧!”
我的考試倒進行的蠻快的. 被叫進去後, 考官核對身份及個人資料. 接下去就是口試. 問了公民常識六題, 唸了一個句子, 再加上聽寫一題. 考官就說恭喜妳通過考試. 簽了一堆文件, 就回到等候區等叫名核對及宣誓.
這一等, 竟等到了下午兩點才宣誓. 肚子餓得咕嚕咕嚕叫又不敢亂走. 因為辦事人員只說”It will start shortly”沒跟大家講幾點鐘開始. 宣誓典禮看了兩段影片, 唸了效忠美國及國旗的誓言. 一堆人領了公民紙便結束了. 在等待的過程中, 仔細的翻了發下來的小冊子- The citizens’ almanac. 講述美國建國理想及先民血汗史. 美國人相當愛護自己的國家. 不能忍受將人群分裂的理論. 無論祖先來自哪裡, 拿了美籍就要悍衛美國. 雖然有兩個大的政黨, 卻只有在選舉時才見到明顯對立. 選舉完, 總統尋求的是兩黨協商以共渡難關, 尤其是在現今的經濟危機.
“I have a Dream” 是Martin Luther King, Jr. 為爭取民權的著名演說. 從來不知全文為何. 今天把它看了仔細.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”…
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:” My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!”…
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ”Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
這段演說寫於1963年. 與Mr. Obama的當選總統隔了四十五年. 雖然, 我們不知未來會發生什麼事. 但美國的反種族歧視主義, 算是向前跨了一大步.
冊子裡還詳細地記載了其他許多著名演說, 詩歌, 及世界級美國人的介紹. 讓我在閱讀中又瞭解美國不少.
典禮結束後, 開車到家附近的馬來西亞餐廳點了素咖哩麵, 及兩樣小菜小小的慰勞自己一下. 明天, 又要回實驗室面對我那難解的實驗啦!