My girlfriend and I went for a valentine’s day dinner last night. We went to a fancy Japanese restaurant on Unley road called Ginza. A pretty, petite, Japanese waitress came over dressed in a traditional kimono. I thought, great, a chance to impress my lady with my mad Japanese talking skillz I picked up while abroad. The conversation went like this:

Waitress: Hello, would you like to start with an entrée?

Me: Hai, futatsu gyozo kudasai. (Yes, can we have two gyozo please.)

{I give Anna a wink as if to say, “Who’s a lucky girl hey?” meanwhile praying I’ve remembered and used my Japanese correctly.}

{Waitress looks puzzled and slightly confused}

Waitress: “Um”

{Oh no, I’ve got it wrong and made an arse of myself}

{There’s an awkward silence}

Me: Sorry, I hope that made sense, I was in Japan a few months ago so thought I’d try using what I learned.

Waitress: Oh, I’m not Japanese, I’m from Taiwan.

{Another awkward silence}

Me: Perhaps we’ll just start with a bottle of wine.

I’ve been wondering if I was slightly racist to assume someone’s nationality because of how they look. However I think if you put a Taiwanese girl in a Japanese Kimono and have her working in a Japanese restaurant, one could be forgiven for assuming she was Japanese.

Turned out all the staff were Taiwanese, I think the chef was Japanese although he might not have been. I chose not to find out and instead prefer to just imagine that he was. In any case the food was traditional and delicious and despite not being Japanese, the staff were really friendly and helpful. Overall it was a great night.

Sayonara

Adam