I wanted too… I really did. But all that came out was a big stupid sounding Hello. You see; in my part of Texas, which is a small town southwest of Houston, I found a restaurant called The Japanese Kitchen. It is sandwiched between a Grocery Store and a Dollar Store in a local strip mall.
I was skeptical when I first saw it. Japanese… yeah right I thought rather sarcastically. I mean; my part of Texas is mainly full of red-necks and Chicanos – of which I am neither by the way. Now; there is a large contingent of Vietnamese after that fiasco for the US fell apart in the 70’s… and Houston does have its China Town section. But Japanese, I’ve been here most of my life and never saw anything Japanese. I guess I was looking in the wrong places.
Several months ago I decided to check it out. Sure enough; it was Japanese… with actual Japanese ownership, cooks and waitresses. Wow, this is really cool I thought. After befriending Missy, a first generation Japanese American (Missy is the Texas name I gave her) I became interested in the Japanese culture. Then I came up with the idea for writing stories about Shisa’s in Texas. Wanting to do my Shisa’s proud about depicting their culture to Texans I started trying to learn the Japanese language. That’s when I found learnjapanesepod.com on the internet and started following it.
But I have come to realize that reading about learning Japanese without any actual application opportunities is not very effective. I do practice my fledgling Nihongo skills on Sammy and Steven – the two six inch high porcelain Shisa statues Missy send me. But I don’t get much feedback from them. They just blankly stare back at me. That is why I was rather excited to find a Japanese presence in my part of Texas. The only problem now is building up the never to actually speak the little Nihongo I think I know to a real Japanese person – Yikes!!!
There was a rather tight feeling in my stomach as I locked and closed the door to my mini-van last week. When I turned and started walking toward The Japanese Kitchen an almost dizziness caused me to list to left a bit as I crossed the parking lot - although, I kept the word konnichiwa (hello) firmly in my mind the entire time. This was to be the first word of Nihongo I would ever to speak to another human being.
As I grabbed the handle on the front door to The Japanese Kitchen the tight feeling in my stomach rose a bit to my chest and then grabbed my throat. As I entered, the waitress enthusiastically greeted me saying - in a delightful Japanese accent - welcome, please sit where you please. That’s when I heard that big stupid sounding “Hello” come out of my mouth.
As dejected as I was at my failure; I was determined to make a come back. During my supper I whispered to myself arigatou gozaimasu… arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much) So; after the nakai (waitress) handed me the check I looked at her… she looked at me… I looked back at her… and then heard this big stupid sounding Thank You come out of my mouth.
D'oh!!!… Oh what a Homer Simpson I am.
Oh well, the next time I dine at The Japanese Kitchen I will be more prepared to make my inaugural venture into to the practical application of Nihongo… maybe.
I was skeptical when I first saw it. Japanese… yeah right I thought rather sarcastically. I mean; my part of Texas is mainly full of red-necks and Chicanos – of which I am neither by the way. Now; there is a large contingent of Vietnamese after that fiasco for the US fell apart in the 70’s… and Houston does have its China Town section. But Japanese, I’ve been here most of my life and never saw anything Japanese. I guess I was looking in the wrong places.
Several months ago I decided to check it out. Sure enough; it was Japanese… with actual Japanese ownership, cooks and waitresses. Wow, this is really cool I thought. After befriending Missy, a first generation Japanese American (Missy is the Texas name I gave her) I became interested in the Japanese culture. Then I came up with the idea for writing stories about Shisa’s in Texas. Wanting to do my Shisa’s proud about depicting their culture to Texans I started trying to learn the Japanese language. That’s when I found learnjapanesepod.com on the internet and started following it.
But I have come to realize that reading about learning Japanese without any actual application opportunities is not very effective. I do practice my fledgling Nihongo skills on Sammy and Steven – the two six inch high porcelain Shisa statues Missy send me. But I don’t get much feedback from them. They just blankly stare back at me. That is why I was rather excited to find a Japanese presence in my part of Texas. The only problem now is building up the never to actually speak the little Nihongo I think I know to a real Japanese person – Yikes!!!
There was a rather tight feeling in my stomach as I locked and closed the door to my mini-van last week. When I turned and started walking toward The Japanese Kitchen an almost dizziness caused me to list to left a bit as I crossed the parking lot - although, I kept the word konnichiwa (hello) firmly in my mind the entire time. This was to be the first word of Nihongo I would ever to speak to another human being.
As I grabbed the handle on the front door to The Japanese Kitchen the tight feeling in my stomach rose a bit to my chest and then grabbed my throat. As I entered, the waitress enthusiastically greeted me saying - in a delightful Japanese accent - welcome, please sit where you please. That’s when I heard that big stupid sounding “Hello” come out of my mouth.
As dejected as I was at my failure; I was determined to make a come back. During my supper I whispered to myself arigatou gozaimasu… arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much) So; after the nakai (waitress) handed me the check I looked at her… she looked at me… I looked back at her… and then heard this big stupid sounding Thank You come out of my mouth.
D'oh!!!… Oh what a Homer Simpson I am.
Oh well, the next time I dine at The Japanese Kitchen I will be more prepared to make my inaugural venture into to the practical application of Nihongo… maybe.
Guijin Jim
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