Roving Japan

Day 36 Photoset

Izumi took Risa and I to the town of Onomichi this afternoon where we met up with her friend Tomoko. Tomoko works as an English translator in the auto industry, translating technical manuals. She also works with Izumi scheduling various English speaking events where Japanese people can get together and practice speaking. It was really nice to spend the day with people who speak English!

The 4 of us went to the shrine built on a hill in the center of town. It was a pretty cool shrine, with a cool little gondola/ropeway that ferries you to the top. The shrine had several levels, so even though we went to the top via the ropeway, we still had to go up and down quite a few steps. My foot was ok, but I was still limping a little. The view from the top was worth it though, as we got a great view of the city and nearby islands.

We had an interesting conversation with Izumi and Tomoko about employment in Japan. They both think I should give English teaching a try, and that I should also look into working at an “English Cafe”. Apparently, “English Cafe’s” are little cafe’s where a native English speaker sits at a table with Japanese customers. Then everyone just hangs out and talks. That’s it. Just sit at a table and speak with customers in English about whatever. Sounds good to me! I might look into it.

For lunch, we went into the main part of town and found a little cafe that is owned by Kobayashi’s group. When we walked in, the girl working at the register knew Izumi since Kobayashi had all the employees come out to the farm to help plant the rice in the field that we worked in yesterday. After saying ‘hi’ to Izumi, the girl looked at me and said, “Oh! Scott!”. I was a bit surprised… I was trying to think if I knew her, had we met before? Why does she know who I am? I’m bad with names, am I going to get in trouble for not remembering her? Then she explained that Kobayashi had e-mailed everyone the photos from yesterday, so they all knew me! I’m famous!

Unfortunately that cafe was full, so we said our goodbyes and found another place where we could get some ice cream before heading home.

On our way back home, we swung by the main Izakaya to say hello to Kobayashi. When we went in, we asked for him and the girl at the register turned and yelled into the kitchen, “Kobayashi! Scott’s here!”. Again, I was surprised that this person knew my name. It felt a little strange to have two people instantly know who I am without having to do any introductions.

Kobayashi was just as friendly and happy as he was yesterday. He seemed pretty excited that we came over to see him. He showed us his self-printed news flyer about his restaurant, we chatted for a bit, exchanged numbers, took a photo, and then it was time to head home.

This evening I suffered another beating at Go from Mr. Kanou. It was even worse this time because he spotted me the max handicap of 9 stones. Dang!