Tonight I had my third date since coming to Japan. I went to dinner with Masa, a friend of Sawaki's who I met at the charity pole dance event. Masa is from another city in Kochi prefecture, and he works as a ramen chef. His main hobby is surfing.
The plan was for Masa to pick me up in front of the hotel near my apartment building. The hotel is a pretty major landmark, so it was a convenient meeting spot. We hadn't established a specific meeting time, but we were thinking it would be around 7:30. At a little before 7:00, I got a text from Masa saying that he was on his way to the hotel. I immediately threw on a coat and some shoes and booked it downstairs. After I had been standing around for a while, it occurred to me that he hadn't told me how far away he was from the hotel. After standing around for maybe a half hour I went back to my apartment to use the bathroom. I went back to the hotel and waited another twenty minutes or so before I thought to myself, "I have no idea how long it will take him to get here. I might as well wait at home" and went back to the apartment. Of course, as soon as I took off my shoes, I got a call from Masa; he was at the hotel.
Fortunately, it only takes me about two minutes to get from my apartment to the hotel, so I didn't keep him waiting long. Masa apologized for being so late and explained that there was a lot of traffic. I wasn't particularly fussed as I hadn't really known what time to expect him in the first place. So from there we hopped in the car and headed to his favorite izakaya. When we got there, it was very busy and there was a bit of a wait, so we sat around outside and chatted for a while.
When we got a table, Masa showed me the menu and explained what a bunch of things were. Mostly he picked the dishes for us, which was kind of a relief, since it would've taken me forever to wade through the menu. But he asked a bunch of questions about what kind of foods I like and don't like, and he asked about each dish before suggesting it. At an izakaya, you typically get several small dishes of food to share. We had some fried chicken, agedashi tofu (more on that in a minute), fried cheese-mochi things, an okonomiyaki-looking thing, and a chicken and rice dish. All of it was really tasty.
Unsurprisingly, Masa acted impressed that I could eat with chopsticks. Nearly every Japanese person I've eaten with has made some comment along the same lines. Really, it just makes me embarrassed because it means that they're watching me eat. This occasion was especially mortifying because the first dish was agedashi tofu, which is a soft tofu in broth. It is a major pain in the ass to eat; every time you try to pick it up, you just break it into smaller pieces. It's a race to get it into your mouth before it falls apart. It's delicious, but embarrassing to try and eat. Because I was self-conscious about eating clumsily, I spazzed out even more and had a rather hard time of it. Fortunately, Masa realized this and repeatedly reassured me that I didn't need to worry so much.
We talked about a lot of things, some of which were unexpected and some of which were very typical. He complimented me on my Japanese (Japanese people will ALWAYS compliment you on your Japanese, no matter how horrible it is) and seemed surprised that I like Japanese food. At one point he actually asked if I could eat rice (*facepalm*). He also asked me why I don't have a boyfriend. If I remember correctly, each one of the guys I've gone on a date with has asked me that. When I explained that I can actually be very shy, he laughed. He said I was the first shy American he had met. That also made me laugh. He apparently thought that all foreign women are aggressive. On the unexpected side of things, he told me that he thought I must be a vegetarian because I was thin. I didn't quite get the reasoning, but I can't say that I minded the compliment.
Anyhow, although Masa said a lot of the usual things that Japanese people say to foreigners, I did feel like we had a nice conversation. We mostly spoke in English and I was impressed with how much he understood and could say. He came across as a very friendly and cheerful person. I really enjoyed talking with him. And I have to admit, he's pretty easy on the eyes as well. I'm kind of surprised that such attractive guys keep asking me out. It's not that I think poorly of myself, but it just seems like unusually good luck.
We finished dinner pretty late (around 11:00, I think) and Masa gave me a ride back to where he had picked me up. I kind of liked the fact that he didn't try to insist on taking me to my apartment. While I do feel that he's trustworthy and wouldn't turn into a stalker, I appreciate not being pressured to tell him where I live. Anyhow, we said goodbye, and he headed off.
All in all, it was a really nice date. I like Masa and I'm hoping I'll see him again. It's unfortunate that he lives so far outside of the city, but hey, at least we're in the same prefecture. He made some comments about cooking ramen for me next time or teaching me how to surf, but that may just have been talk. I guess we'll see...
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