Japanese Music

Today we had a Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It was a mock level 4 test, the bottom one but you've got to start somewhere. I think it went alright, though we were faced with a lot of grammatical constructions that we have yet to see.

After the test Hirata-sensei told us about Japanese New Year cards. People send them to everyone they know, basically. Hirata says she sends about 100 each year, her husband sends 200, and the man at reception reckons he sends 300. They are similar to postcards, and often have pictures of them. Some even have a number of them for entrance into a nationwide lottery. We were given an information sheet and a card to send to one of the teachers. It also seems that if someone has someone die in their family in that year, then you don't send them a card. The post office also has a job on its hands, as it promises to deliver them all on New Year's day.

In the evening I played pool with Nozomi, Akiko, and Kaori, before chatting for ages. Nozomi's finally stopped ripping the proverbial out of me everytime I make a mistake and has started correcting me, which is nice! She also lent me a CD of the Japanese band: Rip Slyme. They have an... interesting sound. They remind me of my friend Garni, since he always used to listen to old-style funk music like Funkadelic's "One Nation Under One Groove". After they had to go (because of their 11pm curfew) I stayed and talked with Hachi-san and Fujita-san. They want me to explain to them about my family, country, culture, etc.... in Japanese! I think it should be good for my Japanese.