Today we went into Kobe to have a big dinner at a French restaurant that is a favorite of Mr. Hayashi. The trip itself was easy enough, and I was impressed with the train station at Kobe. I also bumped into quite a few foreigners like myself – I’ve been used to being one of the few. Before going to dinner, Mr. Hayashi wanted us to go to a “trade show” and check it out with him. We followed him through a giant shopping mall, and eventually found our way to a tiny conference room in the back of a spooky building. Nobody was sure if we were in the right place, but when we opened the door, there was about eight Japanese in suits, waiting for us.
I’m not sure what the event was, but it wasn’t a trade show. The people put us each on a machine and measured our bone density. Then we sat down and read some pamphlets (all in Japanese… I faked it). Afterwards, the president of some company stood up and talked for about half an hour about his products, which as far as I could tell, are algae based foods and supplements. He passed out green tea as refreshments, and I figured something was up when all the employees watched us while we drank them. There might have been algae in there, I’m not sure. Then they passed around pills that they wanted us to eat. I skipped that – a couple of weeks ago I was at home in California, now I’m downing pills with a bunch of Japanese people I don’t know… how surreal is that? Afterwards, they passed out some kind of sports drink that had something to do with blueberries and bees. I drank two of those, figuring I would be out late tonight and I needed something to keep me going. I was willing to put up with a lot since all the teachers were springing for dinner.
After we snuck out of there, I threw away the crap they gave me, and we took a taxi into another part of Kobe to eat dinner. The restaurant was in a part of town that used to be full of foreigners. The architecture was European, and the neighborhood was very cool. There are restaurants all over, and the streets are very narrow. Lots of young people were running around, and it had a good feel. I snapped a few photos, but since we were on the move, I’ll have to come back to document the experience a little better.
The restaurant was in a 102 year old house, and the food was quite good. Mr. Hayashi had called ahead and our menu was already set. The food was excellent, and for the first time since I arrived in Japan, I used a fork, knife and spoon. The waiter was very concerned that everyone used the right utensil at the right time, and I had fun throwing him off and moving things around. Everyone was very serious at the table, and we could have used a couple of shots of tequila to loosen everyone up. After a couple of rounds of drinks, things started to get moving. The cameras came out, and we took a ton of pictures. I understand the restaurant was quite expensive. I’m probably not going back anytime soon.
Kobe seems like a great city, and I’m eager to go back and do some more exploring on my own. Tomorrow I’m sticking around the apartment to help Andrew pack, and then the next day he’s leaving early in the morning.
