Something Heard A While Ago

I don't remember when exactly I heard the following story.  It had to be about a week or so after I returned to Japan from my trip to Canada.  By my calculations it would've been July 15th when I last visited the place where I heard it which is a "snack" (a ubiquitous type of bar which usually serves drinks on a time based fee rate and always features a karaoke system) called "Ruru".

The lead up to the story was where the proprietress mentioned to the customer sitting two seats to my left that I worked as a conversational English teacher.  The fellow went off on the usual segue about not knowing how to speak English.  The next part of his monologue went into the only trip he had made to an English speaking locale.  The place in question being Oahu, Hawaii, and the time was his honeymoon about 25 years ago.

As was typical in those days, he and his wife went to Hawaii on a honeymoon tour.  That meant the newlyweds went on their honeymoon with other newlyweds on a group tour.  He mentioned that the tour company had supplied the group members with food vouchers which could be redeemed at establishments which catered to Japanese tourists.

After three days of that fare this fellow had had enough.  He wanted something different and his wife was in agreement.  So the two of them went off on their own to find a restaurant in Waikiki which looked "Western"...that meaning the place didn't have menus or signs in Japanese and it wasn't on the list recommended by their tour company.

They found themselves at the entrance of a nice looking restaurant.  The couple looked at each other and thought that a meal there would set them back a bit.  But they were determined to experience something unique so they didn't turn back.  The maitre d' didn't speak Japanese and the storyteller didn't speak much English.  All he could manage was "dinner", "honeymoon", and "please"...not in exactly in that order.  Nonetheless, it was enough to get a message across and they found themselves seated at a table in a dining room which featured a floor to ceiling high aquarium tank.  They also found themselves with a problem of trying to figure out the menu so they could place an order.

Fortune was on their side that night.  The maitre d' returned with an African-American kitchen staff member in tow.  It turned out that the kitchen staffer had been stationed in Okinawa during his tour of duty with the US military.  So he knew a bit of Japanese.  He was more than happy to help explain the menu to the newlyweds.

The meal the newlyweds had was delightful and they were more than pleased with their turn of luck.  In addition they were extremely grateful to the staff for being so accommodating.  They quite literally had had the time of their lives...as I could tell as I watched the man tell his story and he smiled to himself....