Futility

As reported earlier on this very site, I took Level 2 of the KPT last year. As I am in the US this year I decided to study the next two levels and take Level 4 next year.
plans... mice... men.... blah blah blah
This plan of mine depended on one basic assumption; proportionality. I figured that Level 3 would be as hard for me now as Level 2 was before I started studying for it and by that same logic that 4 would be the same once I mastered 3.
Well, there were at least three major flaws with that assumption. The simplest is that levels don't have to be equidistant and they rarely are. I should know this from teaching ESL (I think that's supposed to be EFL). The second is that I had lived in SK for around two years when I started studying for Level 2, I had a preexisting base of knowledge. The third is related to the second, I was living in SK at the time and learning and practicing everyday. Now I'm in the States where most of what I do with Korean is forgetting. So, given my world-renowned powers of concentration, I'm pretty sure I'll be ready to take the Level 1 by next year.