Last Minute
So, this post is both a story and a thank you to Becky, who went above and beyond the call of duty (and sanity / rationality / you name it) to save my procrastinating hide. I decided to attempt the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT for short; 日本語能力試験 in Japanese). Therefore, on Sunday, December 2nd, I plan on being in Hiroshima sweating out the Level 2 test. Honestly, a few months ago I thought I’d be able to pass it since I still had ample time to study. That time has since evaporated into thin air and so has my confidence. At this point, I plan on studying like a maniac, but I don’t think I’ll be able to pull it off – in which case I intend to say I’d intended this to be a practice round all along, you know, to avoid complete humiliation. (On the other hand, should I succeed, I’m going to have a party.) In interest of full disclosure, I’m about 168 study hours shy of the stated 600 hours-of-study target test taker. Oh well? Gonna try it anyway. Here’s hoping I’ll be in the 40-odd percent that pass.
Back to the story. About a week ago, I asked Becky if she’d hop over to the Kinokuniya in Matsuyama to pick up an application since I live far, far away and wouldn’t make it all the way to the capital before the application deadline. She said sure, since she lives there. Yesterday at about 3 I received an email and a voicemail from my close friend Becky. She said “email me a photograph (headshot) of you ASAP, it’s required for the application.” I called her back and told her that it wasn’t possible since we all know that my computer is once again in the shop. We debated about what to do. I hopped on my scooter and flew home to pick up the extra headshot picture that I bought when I was getting my license. When I got there I got another mail on my cell and it had Becky’s address as well as a phone number for the JLPT people. I called. It was a phone service. I sat through the list of every test location in Japan twice in order to copy down a phone number for further questions at the end of the recording. I dialed it, and spoke in Japanese to a fellow who was quite helpful. I explained the situation, and my worry that if I overnighted the photo to Becky it’d get there tomorrow afternoon, leaving her no time to get to the post office to mail the application off. I asked if I should mail it separately at the same time, but he said no no no no no. Apparently that’s a bad move. He told me the best thing to do was to have her send it off as is, without the photo. He said that the center will contact me and ask for one, at which time I should mail it in. So, the freakout was completely unwarranted.
You might be asking yourself what’s so extraordinary about this. If you are, consider this. The Kinokuniya in Matsuyama was out of forms. Becky, being Becky, took a full day of nenkyu paid leave and took a bus to Takamatsu in Kagawa (the next prefecture over), clear across Shikoku in order to buy me an application form – without telling me, that is. She called me as she was leaving Takamatsu. Becky is a lunatic, and one of the most amazing friends ever. Who else would take a day of vacation – a very precious commodity here – and make a 290 km (180 mile) roundtrip journey to bail out a friend who procrastinated his way into a difficult situation? I just had to out her good deed to the world, because it astonished me, and I want everyone to know how awesome she is. Thanks, Becky.
Google Maps after the more link. If you click the zoom out button about 7 or 8 times in either case, you’ll be able to see both cities in the same frame. Matsuyama (松山) is southwest from Takamatsu (高松), and both are on the northern coast of Shikoku.
Matsuyama:
Takamatsu:
