Originally Posted by
LapLap
I do not speak Japanese. It could well be that our interpretations of competency and fluency vary wildly and my Japanese is indeed better than your husband's. That doesn't change the fact that I do not speak Japanese.
I am glad you have expounded on your previous comment which was suggesting that one should pay for someone's company so that they can merely translate for you.
"Picking your own restaurant and getting someone to go along solely as a way to better appreciate the restaurant's food could wind up being a very uncomfortable experience for at least one if not all of those involved."
From your point of view, no. But there is no way of knowing how your companions felt.
Going backwards - all I know is I've wound up staying in contact with almost all of the many people I've met over the years. Sometimes sporadically. And sometimes our contacts have come to an end. Because some people got sick - had other family issues - etc. (one - to my knowledge - died). FWIW - I met most of these people through certain food chat boards (or through a common interest in food). Most (including me) have popped up on other food chat boards. So it winds up being a "small world".
My oldest "on line friend" is a portfolio manager I met on Compuserve in about 1990 (we met on a financial chat board). He lives in another part of the US - and we still talk on the phone about once every couple of weeks. Having a friend for almost 25 years - no matter how I met him - works out ok for me
. Note that we pay for dinner for him and his family when he gets to our part of the world - and he pays for dinner for us when we get to his part of the world.
I guess my husband and I are at a point in our lives where we don't think twice about picking up checks - for anyone anywhere. What are we saving our money for - our old age
? And I can tell you we honestly enjoying treating people - especially younger people - and especially those who enjoy good food - to meals they otherwise couldn't afford. It puts a smile on our faces to do this. We had a "food mentor" when we were young (in our 20's - early 30's) who did this for us on multiple trips to France (he's dead now - died a few years ago in his 80's) - and we are simply "paying it forward" as far as I'm concerned. Note that one of my favorite "food things" is taking my favorite elderly aunt to really nice places in New York (where she lives). She enjoys great food she couldn't afford on her own - in places where she's treated like a queen.
As for speaking Japanese - I think my husband speaks it quite well in terms of "tourist Japanese" (as opposed to being able to conduct a business meeting in Japanese). But he doesn't understand as much as he speaks. I think that is due in part to the fact that - IMO - he is starting to lose his hearing to a perceptible degree (not unusual for men his age). Robyn