Saturday I stayed in during the day in an attempt to avoid the heat outside. It worked well enough. I did projects around here that I’ve been meaning to do for a while. I replaced my old clothes washer with Kuniko’s new one, and moved my old refrigerator and washer out to the front balcony. I wrapped them up in a big blue tarp like some giant birthday present for the next teacher that moves into my apartment when I leave.
In the evening I went into Kobe to meet up with Inoguchi sensei, his wife, and Kuniko. We all met at Motomachi station. I am terrible at doing introductions in my own language, it’s really difficult in another language. This was my first time meeting Inoguchi sensei’s wife. She was really nice – she had a big smile and seemed really friendly. As it turns out, looks can be deceiving.
Just kidding – she was a nice person. We went to a chinese restaurant that is one of Inoguchi sensei’s favorites, and they served us a set course with all kinds of food. Chinese food is a little different here in Japan, but this was really well done. It might be because Chinatown is just down the street.
As the dishes kept arriving we talked about all kinds of things, and I was impressed how easily Kuniko got comfortable with new people, and I think we both brought a lot of energy to the table. They seem like maybe they are a quiet couple. Maybe they were sick of us by the end of the night. Inoguchi sensei kept a close eye on everyone’s food and drink and made sure everything was going OK. We poured beers and tea for each other (never for yourself!), and powered through five courses of great food.
After dinner we walked over to Starbucks because it is one of Inoguchi sensei’s favorite haunts. We spent more time talking there, and I told all the amusing anecdotes that I could think of that I could translate into Japanese (and that’s not many). Around nine or ten we headed back to the station, and we went our separate ways. I had a good time with them – I think that Inoguchi sensei is having a little bit of a hard time fitting in right now, but I think that soon people will get used to him and he’ll be fine.
Kuniko and I caught a train out of Motomachi. I got off at Akashi, and Kuniko headed on to her place in Kakogawa. Tomorrow she’s going out to lunch with some friends in Umeda, and then in the afternoon we’re going to meet up with some other friends for dinner in Akashi. The evenings this weekend are pretty busy, but luckily the daytime is wide open. I might sneak in a hike tomorrow if the weather cools down a bit!
