Little Black Red Dress

I thought I would a lot happier after finishing it, but somehow I feel like this is the beginning of the end of my stay in Japan, and it's all a bit sad. I've finally completed the only thing that can officially prove on paper, one of my achievements here in Japan (that's if I pass -_-;;). I know the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam is a little different to actual conversational Japanese, but I really did study for it and even memorized all 350 verbs, including around 20 of them being honorific and modest verbs, some of which I haven't heard being said at all in the past 8 months.

However, despite passing or not passing I'm still happy with the Japanese I have learnt.

I did Level 3 for those who were curious in my previous entry. Nadia (the other exchange student, who is basically fluent) had already learnt six years of Japanese in high school and she took Level 2, so I decided with my one year of Japanese class from way back in 7th Grade and another s months in 11th Grade from a ex-boyfriend, Level 3 was probably the best way to go.

The exchange students from Italia and Belgium did Level 4 because they've only stayed in Japan for a few months.

Since we did different levels we were all allocated in different buildings in Shizuoka University. I was lucky enough to be in building L (for all those Death Note fans out there).

The six of us kept joking about how I was, "entering L" and if Raito, "entered L" in the same way. Yes, we are dirrty minded little girls. In fact I even have a photo of me, "climbing on top of L" (going up the stairs).

.. although our innuendo was slightly strange if I think about it clearly now.

.. It's not like I have a penis, so I can't really enter anyone can I.

..?

*cough* Anyway, when I sat down at my desk in the classroom full of foreigners, I happened to be seated next to someone who was Chinese. When I heard him speak Chinese to his friend I became really excited since I haven't heard or spoken Chinese in so long and started to make conversation with him. However, I began to panic about the exam when I found out that he had been working in Japan for 3 years already.

"I'm not seriously taking the same exam as someone who has been here more than three times the amount of time I've been here," I had thought, desperately wanting to get out of L and into the building where the girls doing Level 4 were (N maybe?).

When the exam actually started though it wasn't so bad.

I had to make a few educated guesses, "This has to be 'genki dewanasasou datta' instead of 'genki dewanakkata souda' because he looked unwell and not, I heard he wasn't well," and one or two wild guesses during the listening when I wasn't really listening and then realised they speakers had already stopped speaking. Gahh..

.

I'll get my results in February though.

After our exams we took a bus back into downtown Shizuoka and only did an hour of shopping because we had to get home before our curfews (6pm for some, 7pm for others)!

We went into this coolest shop called "Thank-you Mart". Everything in that shop was only 350yen (around $4AUD) and it even had a vintage clothes selection. As you all might know I'm not a big fan of dead people's clothes vintage.

I prefer things to be new and clean (Mel=hygiene freak) and preferably not from someone who've died in it, but from time to time I'll do my rounds at vintage stores as well, simply because I'm open minded and if I love something and it looks amazing, be it cheap or expensive, new or used, I will buy it. So as I picked out a huge random red and white strawberry necklace and a belt buckle exclaiming, "ROCK STAR", I quickly rummaged through the rack of vintage dresses and landed upon this lovely red and black printed grandma dress. I've been buying only dresses recently and I've always been a fan of black, and also I've begun to rediscover my love for red again, so seeing black and red together in the form of a dress was like.

.. ooh fashigasm!

And at 350yen I didn't hesitate for a second.

When I got home and tried it on, it looked very..

. grandma-ish. But I was just glad it fit my increasingly expanding body.

I decided to play around with it, to make it more wearable in public. I folded in the frilly bit at the collar (I will cut it off once I get back to Sydney), and I hitched up the dress and turned it into a mini dress. I actually folded it up Yukata style (see I'm using the new skills I've learnt already), but you can't really tell from the photos.

I added my red waist belt and I'm thinking about wearing it with black round toe pumps. And voilà, something wearable to summer garden party for a whole 350yen!



Since I'm done with the fashion, I'll get onto the more nerdy news.

Most of you probably know that the Nintendo Wii was released in Japan on Saturday (don't know why America got it first...

-_-;; but at least it's a lot cheaper in Japan). For those who don't know what Wii is, . Amir and Louise went to Tokyo to line up at 2am in the morning for it's release and they still missed out.

It sold out that quickly. In fact, most shops sold it by lottery. Those who's numbers where called out were the lucky ones to be able to buy a Wii home for Christmas.

One of my host family's friends were one of those lucky few. We all went over to her house to play on the Wii. I wasn't that interested at first but once I bowled, pitched, batted and played tennis, I got so into it.

I want a Wii now! GIMME A WII!!

! Although it does scare me a little that technology now allows you to play sport in your own living room in front of your television..

.

Whatever.

Anyway if I do get a Wii I want the Bleach game.

Does it mean I get to swing a Shinigami sword around?

Another new release is the game . It's so very cool.

.. I'm like a crazy woman playing it.

You'll find me screaming, "RASENGAN!" and "KAMEHAMEHA!"