Today was finally the day when my students took the listening test that Tsutsumi sensei and I recorded a week or so ago. I’ve written about it before, but it’s surreal to hear your own voice booming through an entire high school. The tape is played through the public address system in the fourth floor, but since the windows are open and other classrooms are listening in just for fun, you can hear yourself everywhere.
Once the exam was over I spent about two hours marking exams, and once I finished I was out of there. Since I stayed longer than usual, I got to see the gradual exodus of the other teachers, and finally around 2 p.m. I left myself.
On the way home I bought some lunch at Ito Yokado (sushi and spring rolls), and then spent most of the afternoon cleaning up around the house and relaxing.
Around six o’clock I went over to Denya. The guy who works at the Futami liquor store had invited me over, and so I dropped in for drinks and dinner. It was really fun. He’s the guy that sent over a bottle of sake to my parents, and my folks sent back a bottle of Gundlach Bundschu for him. He really enjoyed it. He’s really good at English, and we spoke mostly in English this evening.
It was a fun night. A lady and her boyfriend(?) came in. She knew my companion – she’s the owner of a snack bar in Higashi Futami. A snack bar, in case I haven’t mentioned it before, is a bar that is really high priced, and dedicated to providing an ear to the salarymen of Japan who want somebody to listen to them. I’ve never been inside a snack bar, even though Mr. Hayashi has tried on several occasions to get me inside one. I asked her lots of questions, and I talked with her boyfriend(?) as much as I could, because I didn’t want him to feel emasculated. He was already nervous that two other guys seemed to be getting along with his girlfriend(?) really well, so I wanted to make him feel as comfortable as possible.
Later, a coworker of my drinking buddy came in with her boyfriend, and so we talked a little with them. They were very young (around 21) and very shy – it was tough for me to strike up a conversation. I kept on trying, though, and I think they appreciated the effort.
At first we spoke almost entirely in English, but by the end of the night we were speaking almost entirely Japanese. It was a good chance for me to practice Japanese, especially under the influence of alcohol.
Now I’m back and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow I’m going to be heading into Sannomiya after work to meet up with Kuniko. I’ve got an exam tomorrow as well, but it’s only for 30 students, so I should be able to mark the exams fairly quickly.
