First English Pupil

I am extremely fortunate to have made the acquaintance of one Mayang (a.k.a Mari), a gregarious Filipino woman who runs a sushi bar across the street from where I live.  She exudes a kind of mama-san spirit, and welcomes each guest into her restaurant with endlessly cheerful enthusiasm.  She is extremely active in efforts both to support the Filipino community and to promote the interests of post-tsunami Japan.


On my second visit to Mari's restaurant (Yanagawa) she essentially began to wrangle customers for my burgeoning English tutoring concern.  She introduced me to a middle-aged businessman, Yutaka-san, with whom I got to chatting with my horrible Japanese.  I actually felt a bit ill-equipped to handle the situation, as I had not yet obtained my meshi (business cards), but with Mari's consistent prodding, I ended up scrawling down my email address on a piece of paper.  At this point the posse arrived (flatmates Bryn and Henrik along with two other Filipino women, Glen and Ai-chan), and I invited Yutaka-san to come to our table and begin practicing some English.  I think it went very well, and I followed up the next day with an email.  Sure enough I got a response and we have an appointment scheduled for the 3rd of June.  Of course, by that time I will have a shaved head and will probably be unable to move, but I think I will be able to speak, and that's all that will be required.  The best part is that Mari has offered to let me use the back area of her restaurant as a classroom.  What a gem I've found in her!

That's a picture of Bryn, Mari, and me.  And here's a picture of my other flatmate, Henrik the Great: