After dinner on Friday, I had the opportunity to smoke at a Hookah Lounge with a couple Japanese friends. It sounds and looks much more incriminating than reality.
Although we shared the pipe, we each had our own mouthpiece. This helped us keep our kooties to ourselves.
Yuka and Yuko ordered us peach flavored tobacco to smoke. The flavored tobacco had a very pleasant taste and odor.
As we smoked and finished our drinks, the ladies helped me with my Japanese phrases. My new favorite expression is “shoganai”. Pronounced show-ga-nigh. Shoganai means “oh, well” or “c’est la vie”. We also worked on a conversation to ask a person if their food is delicious.
“Oishi des ka” – is your food delicious?
“Hai, oishi des” – yes, this is delicious.
“Yokata” – I’m happy for you.
Who needs Rosetta Stone? A couple more Friday’s at the Hookah Lounge and I’ll be proficient in Japanese!