Just Like Old Times

Everyone knows that I've been trying to wrangle an introduction to the local Japanese woman for some time now. Last night, it actually happened.

We met at the Japanese restaurant here in town for what my doctor's wife called "a drug deal". It was a small dinner that two different pharmaceutical companies paid for where we could order and eat anything we wanted. I was a little skeptical of Beaumont's ability to produce authentic Japanese food. However, much to my surprise, the food was delicious and produced several hours of nostalgic dinning.

The Japanese woman was delightful. Despite the fact that she has lived in America for 35 years and has been married to an American all that time, she has remained almost completely Japanese with very few American annoyances thrown in. We sat side-by-side and giggled like school girls while we spoke Japanese mingled with English and she shoveled more and more food onto my plate and called for even more food to be brought out.

The best of the food were the dikon pickles, which took me nearly two whole years to learn to like. This was followed closely by a huge chunk of salty Japanese salmon. We also had tenpura, miso soup, and white rice. I got to take some of the leftovers home AND the Japanese woman said she would call me.

I sat there, in complete satisfaction and complete comfort thinking about how normal it all seemed to me. It's been a long time since I've felt completely like myself. Who knew that it would happen in a Japanese restaurant while speaking Japanese??