Last night after my last class at Kawasaki Yoshi and I went out for a couple of beers. We had hoped to drop in at the local tachinomi (literally “standing drinking”) place, but it was packed with people. The streets of Nishi Akashi were pretty quiet actually – people were avoiding the oppressive humidity by staying inside where there is air conditioning and cold beer.
We finally picked a place near the station that looked promising, and bumped into a few of Yoshi’s coworkers drinking there. It isn’t a surprise – the whole southern side of town is surrounded by the Kawasaki complex, and so we’re bound to bump into people we know.
The food was pretty good, and the beer was cold. We ate some dashimaki and tempura, and talked in English and Japanese for about an hour or so. Yoshi filled me in on how things were going with him, and we talked about his experiences in China – and he gave me a few pro-tips for dealing with the locals there. He said the exchange rate is pretty good between Japan and China, so I’m looking forward to eating and drinking everything in sight.
I headed back home around 8:30, and Kuniko had already made it back and had dinner. She’s got a party on Tuesday night, so I’ll be on my own for dinner tomorrow. The week should be pretty quiet, actually. I’ve got some classes on Thursday and Friday, but otherwise not much going on during the day Tuesday and Wednesday. It’ll be job searching and Japanese study for the next couple of days. I’ll try to come up for air and post a little more this week!
