My first time at a TGIF's in Japan

Published on December 4 2016

Posted by: Keat

Segment: comics

My first big trip out of Omigawa alone had taken me to Yokohama, just south of Tokyo. I was going there to meet the local chapter of the reenactment group that I am a part of. Now, I had studied Japanese as a minor in college, but I was a few years out of practice, and can manage a few sentences that are needed, like “Where is ~?” (insert what you need to find), and just a few phrases like that.

I found my group at the TGIF's in Yokohama, and was having a wonderful time. But, as things happen, it was time for me to find the bathroom. Our waiter had been Japanese, so I thought that all of the workers at the restaurant were Japanese. I walked to the front of the restaurant to the hostess stand and asked, in Japanese, “トイレはどこですか？” (“Where is the restroom?” and the following interaction happened:

Needless to say, I felt kinda stupid. I hadn't bothered to really look at the person that I had asked the question to. It is also a bit of a culture shock to go from the Japanese country side, where you are, like, one of a few foreigners. Maybe! And to go to a populated city where there are going to be foreigners, it will shock you to find people that do speak English either fluently, or as their first language.