I finally saw my immediate next-door neighbour tonight! Or, I assume she's my neighbour, and not my neighbour's friend or girlfriend; I hope that she is, because she seems nice, although all we did was exchange a few "Kombanwa"s* as we passed each other.

I went to the gym this morning, as is my custom on Fridays, and lo and behold, I had a five-minute conversation with two of the older ladies in the changeroom! In Japanese (and a few words of English, I will admit) no less! Of course, it was the standard fare of "Where do you come from, where do you live now, what do you do, nihongo wa joozu desu, I've been to Canada twice to see Niagara Falls..." and then they started chatting rapidfire with each other about how they're getting older and don't have much chance for travelling even though the one had been all over Europe and everything. It was lovely, and we bid each other an "otsukaresama desu"** before leaving the changeroom... and then stopping to chat outside the changeroom again about how I'm an English teacher. After that conversation, we used the more casual "Jaa, mata"***, and I walked away feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

My next Japanese lesson is tomorrow, and I'm ready to learn!



*Good evening (approx.)
**There is no translation for this that I have found or can think of. Roughly, it means "you've worked hard (good stuff)", and you use it a lot at work, like when I see another teacher in between classes, or when you say goodbye at the end of the night. But it can also be a sort of "thanks for troubling yourself" in the case of sales clerks and customers, or even like... I and the hot dude at the gym exchange "otsukaresama"s when we see each other. It's multipurpose and polite and extremely culturally specific, I suppose!
***See ya later (approx.)