Date & Time: Tuesday, September 16, 12:30p.m.-2:15p.m.
Participants: Two from the US, one each from the UK and China among the parents of Saint Maur International School
Guides: Two KSGG members
Spot: Soba, Japanese buckwheat noodles restaurant
Languages: Simple Japanese and English
The KSGG members taught Japanese conversation to the parents of Saint Maur International School in Japan while enjoying soba, Japanese buckwheat noodles together at a traditional soba restaurant. They are from the UK, the US, and China, all living in Japan. Everyone arrived on time in front of the restaurant, and they went up to the second floor. They then began a conversation by introducing themselves and spent two enjoyable hours together.
Although the menu was written only in Japanese, the participants chose their dishes by seeing the photos on the menu. They took time choosing what to eat. Since it was still as hot as summer at that time of the year, the restaurant recommended cold soba, but they chose kake soba, soba noodles served in a hot soup instead. Each of them pointed at the menu and placed their orders, saying “I will have this,” “I will have that.” One of the participants even asked to change the shrimp tempura topping to chicken, which wasn’t on the menu. All of the participants were able to find a dish that suited their own taste. They learned the words of the ingredients in Japanese.
Everyone was good at using chopsticks. They understood that they could slurp soba noodles, but doing it wasn’t easy. However, the British man, who had lived in Japan for many years, skillfully slurped his soba just like a local.
They had a lively conversation about the eating habits in their home countries as well as Japanese cuisine.
It was interesting for the KSGG members to listen to the participants’ comments, such as fun trivia about various shops around the restaurant and their connection to celebrities. They also mentioned that the songs of Kuwata Keisuke, a famous Japanese singer, were clear and help Japanese learners to catch the lyrics. He is said to be a pioneer in singing Japanese in English-style.
When they pay the bill, they learned an important phrase in Japanese: “betsu-betsu de onegai shimasu,” which means “separate checks, please.” They carefully took home the Japanese–English vocabulary list KSGG prepared as a nice souvenir for them and their children. Some participants said, “Will you organize an event like this again? We had so much fun!” The KSGG members hoped they would join next events again as repeat participants.