Sake
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Auckland,
New Zealand
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Unusually, I had one and a half whole days to myself this week as I only had five shifts at the pub, so when it came to Thursday evening I had nothing to do. i had decided earlier in the week to try and learn Japanese because a lot of the people staying at my hostel are from Japan so I would have the chance to practice. It is not working brilliantly well. I am not gifted with an ear for languages. One of the blokes at the hostel has said he will teach me though, so I went to a sake bar in the evening with the intention of having a lesson whilst sampling some sake. Another thing I have never done.
The lesson however, never really got started as just after I arrived I was joined by an American bloke called Trevor who turned out to be a fairly interesting guy, though by the end of the night he was a little drunk, having had at least three pots of sake. Still, no one is perfect. It also turns out that he lives fairly close to the country club where I have been offered a job, and apart from the apparent smallness of the globe, he said that the place was "a small slice of heaven on earth" and that if I had been offered a job there I should leap at the opportunity. It was good to hear a positive review of the club as everyone at work has been joking all week how it is probably a strip bar and the thought of something like that horrifies me, from a personal perspective. I am assured by Trevor however that this club in particular, and the region in general, have very strict rules about strip clubs and that if I was offered a bar job, then it would be in a standard bar.
He also gave me the details of a friend of his in New York who will be able to sort out tickets to a great New Years party in NY for me. Apparently she has a knack for picking the best parties and can get just anout anyone she wants into them. I did not realise it at the time but I now get the impression that Trevor, or at least his family, is quite rich.
I also met a barrister from Hull called Luke, and it was nice to hear a familiar accent, though the conversation was a little more stilted than my conversation with Trevor as I got the impression that he was a little tense.
When we got back to the hostel I discovered just how badly my Japanese lessons have been going. Earlier in the day I had forgotten the word for hello, so I had asked Carlos how to say 'Morning.' Unfortunately he had misheard me and thought that I had asked how to say 'Money' and gave me that translation. I had spent the rest of the day saying 'money' to people instead of 'hello!' From now on Carlos is not teaching me Japanese, as he found the whole incident highly amusing and I worry that he may 'mishear' words for the amusement of it. I think that I will also get a book to supplement my learning and help me to learn. It will all be useflu at some point as it is still my intention to go and live in Japan for a while once this trip is over.
It is not longer so far away, but there is still a lot to do before then. Still, it can't hurt to learn.
