Yakitori

Lisa and I went out to dinner tonight with Ayumi and Satomi to a crazy little yakitori place right across from the train station in Matsuyama. I'm pretty sure yakitori translates into "grilled chicken." It's exactly what it sounds like. Tons of different chicken parts, cooked a variety of different ways, on wooden skewers. Pretty tasty. At the beginning of the meal, they bring a giant plate of cabbage, presumably so you will eat something with a little fiber in it during the meal. Also, I got to try some chicken sashimi, which is basically raw chicken. Apparently "salmonella" isn't in the Japanese vocabulary. But I'm not complaining, though I have to admit, raw chicken tastes very similar to raw fish. Maybe I don't have enough of a discerning palate quite yet. Oh well, I'm working on it. Another great meal in Matsuyama!

Oh yah, pretty funny. Seeing as how I seem to be the only white guy in the room where ever I go out to dinner, something odd always happens during the meal. Tonight, there was a party of older folks eating dinner next to us, ordering drinks like there was no tomorrow. They must have noticed me, because at one point during there meal, one of the old ladies yelled out to the rest of the table, "I speak English!" They all looked at me and started laughing. Anyways, when I got up to leave, one of the more inebriated men grabbed my shoulder and said, "Excuse me." I turned, and he held out his hand and very drunkenly said, "Nice to meet you." I shook his hand, and returned the pleasantry, while the entire table burst out in delighted laughter. I wished them all a great night, and left. I swear, this happens to me all the time! The reason I mention it in this post is because this marked the twentieth time that something like this has occurred since I've arrived here. I have to admit, it's nice being the exotic one, everyone gets a kick out of talking to me in English. What a funny place!