Reiko's farewell party

Reiko's farewell party part two at Japanese restaurant Asakusa in Camden Town (This restaurant is perfectly Japanese. The atmospher inside is exactly the same as Japanese usual restaurants. Food is also authentic Japanese and not bad though I wouldn't say "excellent!" because they don't know how to cook rice. My bowl of steamed rice is too sticky).

Reiko's going to leave London tonight. She shows up with a huge and heavy trunk and a huge and heavy backpack. It's totally not what a girl should carry around. So when she leaves for the Heathrow Airport, I decide to go with her carrying her huge and heavy trunk until Leicester Square station (Tomoko also asks me to do so as I'm one of the two guys at the party). Once she gets on the Piccadilly Line at that station, then for the rest of journey she can drag her trunk (there's no stairs at the Heathrow Airport). As a man, I feel right and complete when I help girls like this way.

Then I go back to the Asakusa restaurant. Fortunately the rest of guys are still there. Then we walk to a bar called Bartok. On the way I have a chat with Mark, a British guy. I met him last December. This is the second time we meet. He says, "You don't have British friends, do you?" Bingo! At my school, there's no British student as far as I know. I ask him, "How do you know that?" He replies, "'Cause your English is the same as when we met before."

Oh, my God.

He's right. I didn't learn English much for the past six months. I was totally busy studying economics. There was no time or energy for learning English.

I really thank him for pointing out this fact. At the same time it's tough to know reality...

Then we arrive at the bar, which is Carola's favorite. All the seats are cosy sofas. And the music played by a DJ is ranging from Baroque to drum & bass of the Good Looking type. Not bad, not bad.

I enjoy talking to Mark and Carola at this bar. They are the kind of people I like. Speaking in a thoughtful and reflective manner. They've been to various countries around the world, so their views are quite flexible. Finally, I meet someone I can share things with.

Also I learn one thing from Mark. He says, "I feel happy when Tomoko (his Japanese girlfriend) talks in her own language." He doesn't understand Japanese. So he doesn't understand what she's talking about. Then why is he happy?

I remember a Vietnamese friend of mine told me the same thing about his Japanese girlfriend. He doesn't understand Japanese, either. Again why?

Mark says, "I'm happy because I can see her feel confident while she's talking in Japanese." Talking in a foreign language makes people feel anxious. That's what he doesn't like. That's how men feel about their girlfriends from other countries. Hmmm....

Then we leave the bar. On the way home, I talk to Carola. It turns out that she lives close to my place. We enjoy having a chat all the way. I'm able to be joking to her. It's weird. It's very unusual. I'm not a droll. I'm very bad at saying jokes. Why?