I went out after work for a couple of drinks with two of the inspectors from the factory last night. These guys have been in Japan a long time, and are interesting to hang out with. While we drank they had a TV in the corner showing the news, and the inspectors kept trying to guess what each news story was about. I helped them a little bit, and it was really interesting to see how much I take the language thing for granted around here. I often give myself a hard time about not studying enough, but until I hung out with these guys I didn’t really realize how much I am understanding.
It was a little tempting to tease them by making up crazy stories for the news scenes they were watching – but I took the high road and only teased them a little. “That guy in the hospital? Attacked by bears. There’s a couple of them running loose in the Kobe area. Be careful on the way home tonight…”
Tonight I will avoid the bears by drinking with some students and enjoying kushikatsu. I’m not sure which students will be attending, but it should be fun to chat. Sometimes this particular group can get interesting – karaoke/hostess club/snack interesting. Hopefully it won’t get out of hand, because it is a school night…
