It's friday, which means I only have one class. I always try to eat
somewhere different for lunch on days like this: the weather is nice, the
wind feels so good: it's not too hot yet and it's not cold and raining
anymore. I know these days in Tokyo do not last very long so I am cherishing
them as best I can.

Anyway I went to a sushi restaurant today that's on my way home from
school. It was a quiet little place with a few seats at the bar and a few
4-person tables lining the wall, which was decorated with old photos from
before the current Heisei-era of people laughing and eating at the same bar
I just seated myself at. It was 1PM so the lunch menu was still out. I am
calling it a "menu" but it's just a piece of paper that has the menu written
on it that sits on the table. All the items were written in the falling-down
fashion with prices listed at the bottom using the traditional style.

I ordered a *chirashi* after I asked what all was in it, more so to
satisfy my curiosity than to make a decision-point of it. The chef was
surprised to find that I've never been to Japan before, maybe I just sounded
like I knew what exactly what I wanted out of this *chirashi* but I
really had no reservations for anything particular.

I enjoy the *chirashi* style because as the name implies, the raw fish
and vegetables are around a bowl of rice. I also had a nice little salad and
a strong cup of loosely-brewed green tea. They also provide a little dish of
pickled ginger to flank each cut so their unique and rich tastes do not
interefere with any other.

Anyway that was all pretty nice. I got up to pay and the little old lady
told me she loved my shirt (*o-share*, which I've only ever heard to describe
girl's pieces).

[![My shirt](https://cdn.prettyboytellem.com/dcim/thumbs/2018/05/IMG_20180515_194605.jpg)](https://cdn.prettyboytellem.com/dcim/2018/05/IMG_20180515_194605.jpg)

I was glad to share the time on a little conversation like that because I
hardly find the chance to talk about anything other than the weather with
strangers.

Although, last night I did get the chance to talk with a group of Americans
who go to the same university I do, how interesting! Our study-abroad
advisor came out to Tokyo and took us out to supper at an
*o-konomiyaki* place. I was surprised to learn that she doesn't speak
much Japanese. However, even my ability was put to shame by one of the girls
in our party, who is conversational and quick to fire back. She helped to
organize the group's check since alcohol couldn't be put on the school's
bill. She's been here a full term in addition to this one, but even so her
skill betrays that she practices more than you learn in school. Her
habit contrasted so harshly against the rest of the party.

I talked to her some while we were walking back to the station. She wants to
continue to study at the university's graduate school once she finishes her
degree in North Carolina. There is some kind of parallelism between us. But
all parallel items are not equal, this fact I remembered while we talking.
*What a relief!*