(New pictures in Apartment...)First of all, many thanks for the birthday wishes (and presents) from everyone- even though today marks my 27th year on the planet, I am not too sad! Thanks for the parcel from the folks at home, the CDs are great and of course the clothing- in Japan thanks Yuki for the Aftershave, Anders for the Cake and so on so on- thanks a million!
So, I wrote the test for the JPLT 3 on Sunday 3rd. It was held in Tokyo University, which is one of the most prestigious in the land. We were up at 6am to get ready and then to travel to Shibuya to meet some other friends. From there we headed to the Uni. I couldn't believe how many people took the test! There must have been at least 2,000 people, and I had thought at one time that the platform for the station would not be able to cope with the volume-but as it was, we managed it ok and got to the site.
The test was set up well and it ran perfectly- even though there were proctors in the room, they didn't say a word- the test was delievered to us through a speaker- the crisp, clear Japanese voice gave us instructions such as "begin writing", "5 minutes left" and so on- the test itself went fine and I am optimistic of a result- I actually began to enjoy making my way through the exam after my initial nerves settled down. Even my weak point, the listening portion went quite well, even though I know I messed up a few questions- I've just got to wait 2 months now for my result! After the test there were beers in Shibuya- take a look at the pictures.
So Anders will leave for Sweden to spend Christmas with his folks, and as it is also my birthday, we have decided to have a party at the house followed by a few beers afterwards- the parties are certainly stacking up, as is usual this time of year. Last week we had a leaving party in Jiu-Jitsu for a guy called Aki, who is a univeristy lecturer- he has been selected to work in Scotland for the next few years- we went to a local restaurant which was really great for no other reason than I was the only foreigner- an excellent chance to practice my Japanese- Good luck Aki!
