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Limited Range

Kenzo has been super uptight about forgetting things. Last week he forgot his jacket or something at school and cried walking back to get it. This morning he checked his backpack multiple times to make sure he had everything.


It was a rainy morning so Osamu stayed in and the elementary school caravan was a little disjointed.


I took the day off for a special endeavor and headed out on foot for the subway as soon as Eri and Osamu left for the bus stop after 8.

I love walking down the street and passing cars that are stuck in a traffic jam. There's a good chance that my 25-minute walk got me to Izumi Chuo Station faster than a bus or car. It was seriously jammed up around the Route 4 bypass intersection at the bottom of our neighborhood.

Even though carrying an umbrella is sort of a hassle I love walking in the rain. I like the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella and the fact that my hands are occupied so I’m not looking at my phone. Sometimes I'll walk and check Microsoft Teams to see what's going on at work and that is a habit I need to break fast.

I popped one of my anxiety pills and washed it down with a cup of coffee. I got a bag of regular ground coffee at the supermarket recently. I think I like it better than the fancy coffee from the international market. I love grinding the beans and measuring it all out but I also love drinking coffee. Seriously the supermarket brand tastes better.

The special endeavor I took the day off for was to take the Business Japanese Proficiency Test. It's been quite a while since I took an exam. The place I went to downtown was on the 7th floor of an office building and there was one overworked lady handling a baker's dozen of mid-morning exam-takers. 

The test took about two hours, and you take it on a computer after the staff makes very sure you are who you say you are. The test result pops up right when you're done.

Apparently I am able to communicate appropriately in Japanese in a limited range of business situations. I shared this with my boss and he sent a thumbs up emoji. 


I wish they had spelled "situations" correctly.

At any rate, taking this test is a company incentive to get better at Japanese. I just barely passed the low bar and next April I'll get a special little bonus. If I take the exam again next year and get a higher score I get a higher incentive bonus.

On the way home in the rain I stopped off at Selva at Izumi Chuo and got a Korean bento. 


Seriously when the time comes to plan family overseas excursions Korea is top of the list. Food, proximity, food.

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