Manny Pacquiao and Nihonggo

What more to do after a tiring day than to watch an uploaded video of Manny Pacquiao's bout with Oscar dela Hoya!

It's a Sunday. Yet, out of the ordinary, I did not work today as a priest. I did have my mass last night (anticipated Saturday evening mass) as I also do when I cannot have my mass in the parish on Sundays, i.e, when I say Tagalog masses in other places. But today was special -- I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It is a of the Japanese Language given to foreigners to see and verify if the level of Japanese that they already know matches the ability reflected in the questions given in the test. It is divided into Kanji-Vocabulary, Listening, and Reading-Grammar. Foreigners who study in Japanese universities have to take it. There are also other jobs and positions that require it. As for me, I took it for the experience and also as a challenge to sharpen my Japanese ability. It is not a boast -- and not even a shame! -- that I tried to take the Level 1 Test... supposed to be the hardest that even the average Japanese cannot answer. It was tough. It was hard. But it was enjoyable!

Manny perhaps felt the same thing. It was good for him to start speeding up before Oscar could do the lightning he used to do before. But all the same, Oscar was a person to beat. Manny surely had to handle the difficulty... but I am sure he did enjoy one of the greatest boxing bouts in history! Perhaps, even Manny himself, with all his respect to Oscar, did not even mind if he won or not.

So, do I think I passed the test? Honestly, I do not anymore care. All that matters now is that I enjoyed the test, that I learned new vocabulary, new kanji and new grammar patterns. All that matters is that I can now say to myself that I did THE Level 1 Test! Deep within, I just feel so satisfied. Funny though... when I took the Level 2 test years ago -- which I actually failed -- I had to go through bouts of discouragement, depression and feelings that I did not want to study Japanese further. Yet, now, it's as if I want to buy more Japanese books, read more, and love the language further. I am very sure this is going to be a very good tool to know and love more deeply the people of Japan, too!

And as for Manny, congratulations! Honestly, even if I do not really like boxing, you're one person who makes me proud to be a Filipino!