The Test / Test

My sleeping pattern is not quite established yet. I get sleepy during the afternoon and wake up very early in the morning. It is unusual for me. 

On the morning of the exam I woke up at 6.30.  I'd intended 8 o'clock. I didn't go back to sleep and just enterained myself on google maps, laying a more efficient route to school, since I'm lazybones. At around 8.30, I went up to Caline's room for a quick cup of coffee and a ciggie.

We left at around ten past nine. But then I had to run back to check if I locked the door. I think I've done this every single day so far. We walked quickly and we were at the school half past.

We've met the staff and the teachers, got into our slippers and headed for the exam room. Up until then, I'd felt quite confident since I understood all the commands. Soon enough that was remedied.

We were given a written test of 4 large pages. It started off with writing the Kana tables. Kana is the two out of three Japanese "alphabets". That means 48x2 letters (actually syllables). Hiragana was alright, Katakana was shaky... and I've been studying these for 2 years now. Typing is a killer, apparently you soon forget how to draw it properly.

It just so happens that they ask you just the bits you don't know. This test was no exception; I left the last two pages blank, which is worth another 2-3 years of study anyway. And I could show very little of what I've been learning in the first two. So let's call it "epic fail".

Then we were invited to the oral exam. I was driven into difficult subjects, like what is Ankara famous for, or why is it not an interesting place (I said it wasn't interesting). Even in Turkish I'd say "There isn't much there' and everyone agrees. It seems I've never thought it through,though. In the second round of questions I tried to recover ground by turning the subject to Amsterdam, and it worked much better. Still, it won't save me and I'll be going to "watashi wa" class. I'll find out tomorrow morning after the opening ceremony, yes indeed.

After the exam we treated ourselves to some temples and sakuras again, which I'll get around to posting about probably tomorrow with pics and all.

Uykum henuz duzene girmedi. Ogleden sonra uyukluyorum, sabahin korunde de uyaniyorum. Sinav sabahi da 6 bucukta uyandim, niyetim 8 idi. Sonra da uyumadim ve tembel teneke oldugum icin Google'dan okula daha kestirme yollar aradim. Saat 8 bucuk gibi bir kahve ve sigara icelim diye Caline'in odasina ciktim.

Dokuzu on gece gibi evden ciktik. Ama ben yine kosa kosa dondum ve kapimi bir daha kontrol ettim. Geldim geleli her gun boyle oldu bu. Sonra hizlica yuruduk ve dokuz bucukta okuldaydik.

Ogretmenler ve calisanlarla karsilastik, tanistik. Terliklerimizi giyip sinav odasinin yolunu tuttuk. Ben o dakikaya kadar soyleneni anladigimdan pek bir kendimden emindim. Kisa sure sonra hepsi uctu gitti.

4 sayfalik bir test verdiler. Once Kana tablolarini yazmamiz istenmis. Kana uc "alfabeden" ikisi. O da eder 48x2 harf (hece). Hiragana'yi kotardim, Katakana'da biraz afalladim. Iki senedir ogrendigim seyler bunlar ama iste klavyede yazmaktan elimle cizmeyi unutmusum galiba.

Zaten hic bildigin yerden sormazlar. Bu sinav da aynen oyle oldu. Son iki sayfayi bos teslim ettim. O son iki sayfa icin benim iki-uc sene daha ekmek yemem lazim. Simdiye kadar ogrendigimi gosterecek pek de soru cikmadi. Neticesi Hatice, soyadi Nanay.

Sinavin ortasinda bir de kaldirip sozluye aldilar. Ucu bagli konulara girdik, cikamadik. Bana tutup Ankara'nin nesi meshur diye sordu, ben de " elmasi" diyiverdim. Ne bileyim aklima bisi gelmedi, uzum diyecek olsaydim diyemezdim zaten de...sonra, "ilginc bir yer de degildir" demisim,, e anlat hadi bakalim niye oyle. Su gune kadar 'E pek biseyi yok iste Ankara'nin" dedimse itiraz eden olmadi, ben de durmamisim uzerinde. Ikinci yarida konuyu amsterdam'a getirip durumu biraz kurtardim ama yeterli oldugunu sanmiyorum. Yani gorunus o ki "watashi wa' sinifina gidecegim ben. Yarin sabah acilis seramonisinden (vallahi de billahi de) sonra ogrenecegim.
Sinavdan sonra yine kendimizi mabetlere attik, sakuralara verdik. Yarin da fotograflarla onlari yazarim artik.