a new friend

carrie and i were gorging ourselves on draft beer and greasy, but perfectly stuffed, gyoza at a famous dumpling hole in the wall recently. the man to my left was dining alone and surprise me by striking up a conversation in english. that can always be a little unnerving. you have to re-hash everything you've been discussing in order to see what you've divulged and how inappropriate you've been in light of the fact someone nearby may have actually understood the english. he was a pleasant fellow who spoke of his work and family and asked many questions. before leaving he asked if we could get a group together to go out some time. we exchanged numbers. the following week we made plans to meet one evening. to my surprise, none of his coworkers could make it...ahem. luckily he wasn't a scumball or the least bit skeezy and we had truly interesting conversation over a great meal at a popular fish restaurant. he was remarkably open about his opinions and discussing details of japanese life with me and i know he was refreshed to learn that i was comfortable talking about cultural issues that are sometimes taboo between mere acquaintances, such as politics, marriage and divorce, and money matters. sometimes dinner invitations here are met with skepticism as they are often an attempt to corner an english conversation partner or score a free language lesson. this encounter didn’t have that feel. recently i received an email from him asking if we can do it again some time. his spoken english is actually much better than this belies. how funny…

THANK YOU. ALMOST IS OK,EVERYTHING WILL GOOD AT TOMORROW NOON, I FEEL.
CAN I TAKE A CHANCE TO MEET YOU THIS WEEK? SHALL WE HAVE A DELICIOUS
FOOD MANY? YOU HAD NOT MANY THAT TIME,DIDN'T YOU? AND ENJOY A
CONVERSATION. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT AND DRINK THIS WEEK? EVERYTHING IS OK,
DO YOU WANT.

i’m getting much better about taking aunt patty’s advice on letting a man wine you and dine you if he wants too. we’ve already discussed his wife, my man and our view on adultery so i’m sure this will only be another opportunity to learn more from a well-educated, well-read engineer who's inextricably acquainted with the japanese culture i'm so interested to hear about. just as i’m sure he’s eager to engage me on every current event that's happened since our last encounter. you know how i love a good conversation.