I went out for drinks after work last night with a couple American consultants who are permanently stationed at Kawasaki to oversee the building and development of some trains. This was the second time we’ve gone out to a tachinomi place. They are regulars there, and it shows. The other customers smile and greet them, and the owner serves them with a big smile and broken English.
These guys have been in Japan for years, but they don’t use Japanese at all, so it is interesting to see everything through their eyes. They explained how they order shochu from the menu by pointing at the alcohol percentage, which is written in numbers, not kanji. The rest of the menu was impossible to read, but they made do with pointing at dishes and remembering the names.
We had lots of beers and not much to eat, and I finally headed out of there around 8:15 and went home. It was fun to hang out with these guys, but they are both heavy smokers and I came home reeking of tobacco. Nasty.
It is Friday and I have a fun group of students today. I’m also looking forward to the weekend and doing almost nothing…
