Today was a nice and relaxing day. School ended fairly early, and I went with some of the students to a cat café. The cats were all sleeping when we arrived, but over time, some of them woke up and came to play with us. It was fun watching them slowly get more active, stretching and curiously approaching us for attention.

After the café, I went back to the hostel and took a nap. Once I had a bit more energy, I decided to check out a yakitori place my teacher had recommended. Unfortunately, when I arrived, the restaurant was fully booked for the night.

Looking across the street, I noticed another yakitori place and decided to give it a shot. I went inside and was seated at the counter. The menu was entirely in Japanese, so I used Google Lens to help translate some of the items.

I wanted to order quail eggs, but since I couldn’t read the kanji, I pointed at the menu and asked, “Kore wa chisai tamago desu ne?” which translates to, “These are small eggs, right?”

A woman sitting on the other side of the bar laughed and replied, “You can say that.”

That small interaction sparked a conversation, and we ended up chatting until the place closed. We talked about all kinds of random things. She was sweet, energetic, and really fun to talk to. She enjoyed talking in English and having this opportunity to practice her English and I got to practice my Japanese!

At the end of the night, she asked if we could be friends and exchanged contact info with me. It felt so natural and effortless, and I was really happy to have connected with someone like that.

I want to make her something and invite her to eat dinner with me soon. It feels nice to start building friendships here, and I’m excited to see where this one goes!