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The Japanese Language Proficiency Test Saturday December 9
My room was huge, and had four proctors. There was so much downtime in between sections of the test. Since I was up front, I entertained myself with the proctors. I imagined it like it was Pac-Man, as there were four of them, and they all had distinct personalities.
First, there was Hangover. I noticed him first. His face was red, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was ripe and ready to go for this Sunday morning test. As any good Japanese boy should, though, he held it in, and he gradually came around during the day. Someone got up early after the first section was done and left the room; he chased them down like a hawk. Either that, or he was running to the bathroom himself. Good work, Hangover.
Next was the Good Samaritan. She was nice, and she was clearly in charge of the operation. She counted all of the tests at the end to make sure no one had stolen any, and that they had recollected the proper number. She held up all the yellow/red cards during the explanation, and even added a nice plead right before the Listening section: "If your cell phone goes off during the Listening portion, you will fail the test, so please check once more that you have turned your phone's power off," in an earnest voice like she was almost worried she was going to have to give a red card, and really, really didn't want to.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, though, was Bootcamp. I have no way of knowing, but my guess is that Bootcamp spent all of Saturday training for Sunday (relay races, eating carrots to improve his eyesight, etc.).
He was up at 4:30am Sunday morning to get ready. He hates Koreans and Chinese people. He signed up to proctor the test to convince himself he doesn't hate Chinese and Korean people, and actually wants to help them. The truth of the matter is that he couldn't sleep Saturday night. He kept fantasizing nailing someone with a red card. I could see it on his face. This mug was taking the whole thing way too seriously.
Which made our final proctor, Eyecandy, a nice sight. She was distributing tests on my end of the room, and she was given the otherwise role of "stand here and do nothing; there is no work for you, but we were told we have to have four proctors, so just be here and look pretty". She did an excellent job of this, and right in front of me.
And, like Pac-Man, they all had their own tendencies: the Samaritan hung out up front; you could ignore her safely, Bootcamp was the tough guy, Eyecandy was almost out to help you cheat, and Hangover was easy enough but probably could give you a run if you weren't careful. Of course, none of this mattered, as I wasn't cheating. However, there was so much damn downtime between everything, and I was in the second row, that I had nothing better to do than imagine who all of these people really were. In fact, I played up on Bootcamp's seriousness and asked a question just to kill time before the exam.
Someone had requested to turn the air conditioning off despite the fact that the room was sizzling hot. I wore layers, so I just took a few off. Eyecandy was close by, so I raised my hand. She scurried over. "The best room temperature is more of a personal preference; if I get cold during the test, is it already to put my button-up shirt back on?" I asked, screwing around, but with a serious delivery.
She has no clue whether or not this is acceptable. She is only Eyecandy, after all. Bootcamp and the Good Samaritan were running the show, so she scurried back to them and asked, and the returned to me. "If that is the case, just make sure to raise your hand before you do so so we know you're not cheating," she answered while Bootcamp stared me down.
Way to go, Bootcamp.
At lunchtime the line at the 7-11 was literally out the door; I, too, had neglected to bring a lunch, but in an open pavilion at the University, Setagaya-ku was sponsoring a "Let's Not Forget Disabled People" event, which featured little stalls of, you guessed it, oden and yakisoba. There were a lot of wheelchairs there, so I overpaid for my oden. It only felt right to donate to a good cause, and to help raise awareness. It was damn good oden. For some reason, everyone else was waiting in a line out the door at the 7-11. I blame educational conditioning.
I returned before the reading/grammar section of the test to find everyone last-minute studying all of the grammar. The moment the tests were open, simultaneously everyone flipped past the reading and went straight for the grammar that they had spent lunch flipping over one last time. Overall, there was a feeling in the air; maybe Bootcamp set the tone, but I just couldn't help but think, "Aren't you all trying just a little too hard here? This is an aptitude test; either you know it or you don't?" But I see their point. Put it in right before the test, it's the first thing that comes out. Forget about long-term memory, much less learning anything. Everyone was so serious. Meanwhile, I kept my headphones on, rocking out, right up until each test started.
Ah well. This is ikkyu. What else do you want, right? A real measure of communication ability? Maybe I'll take JETRO next time.
直前対策 Sunday December 3
Today is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT); my roommate and I will both be taking the highest level (Level 1). Of course, the test itself is only 3 hours, but the organizers have found ways to insert breaks, lunches, and so on, and drag the whole thing out to almost a full day. It's morning now, and I'll be back at 4pm.
The roommate and I have both been taking past years' tests, and we've passed, so we're not too worried about it. Of course, there are always flukes and upsets, but it's not so much a matter of pass/fail as it is a matter of "will we beat out our coworkers and friends?" A healthy competition is always nice.
I won't know the results until next year, but it really doesn't matter. Even if I pass, it doesn't mean anything. I can write it on my resume and so on. True to the Japanese educational system, as long as you study what is on the test, you don't have to work too hard. As such, I don't think it really measures one's true ability to perform everyday life in Japan.
