A date?

Last Saturday I got a text from Miyamoto-san (Atsushi), who my new boss tried to hook me up with a few weeks ago (see Yente post), inviting me to lunch. After we exchanged info at the end of the enkai, I decided not to let myself be too shy to actually talk to him. I have met Japanese people before and exchanged info and had it come to nothing because I was too concerned with social expectations to bring about a friendship, and they are often shy as well...so this time I decided I would "make the first move" if you will. We had discussed how much we hate the morning meeting (a ritual every division goes through each morning where we recite the citizens charter and talk a bit about something going on in the world), and since he was next in line to go on Tuesday I sent him a message Monday night wishing him luck.

From there, we texted back and forth for a week. On Saturday he suggested that we get together during our lunch break and grab a meal so we could talk in person. o(^^o)(o^^)o わくわく

We set it up for Tuesday since it was the only day I was in the office for lunch. We decided to meet outside the employee entrance. The Japanese are very concerned about keeping their personal lives and their work lives very separate so he couldn't come and meet me at my division. Plus if we had, my Yente boss would have made a HUGE deal out of it and would have embarrassed both of us.

As we approached lunch time, I got more and more nervous. My hands were shaking. I have never been out with a young Japanese person one-on-one before, and there are all kinds of cross-cultural issues as well as issues with communication, etc.

I had to go down to the 4th floor because the elevator on the employee entrance side doesn't go to the 5th floor because of the mayor's office. I met up with Laurel and she walked down with me, trying to help me calm down. I felt like I was in middle school again about to meet my crush in the hallway between classes. Though I certainly don't feel like that about him, having just met him, but it was that kind of nervous feeling.

He was waiting outside when I got to the entrance. Laurel dashed off so things wouldn't be awkward, but she caught a glimpse of him and apparently she approves. Atsushi didn't say anything when I got there and kept looking over his shoulder so I think he was worried about people seeing us (not in a bad way, just in a Japanese way...if anyone were to see us it would become the topic of gossip all over city hall).

He didn't really talk much at first. I think he was pretty nervous, so I ended up making most of the conversation. We talked a bit about work and my upcoming taiko performance. I found out that he graduated from college in March and moved to Kameoka at the beginning of April, so he had only just moved to the area a few weeks before we met. He majored in Economics and is currently working for the Commerce and Tourism division of city hall.

We got a little bit lost on the way to the restaurant, since he was new to town and actually had to look up a map to the place he chose for us (he actually said he had found the map that I created on Google Maps for foreign residents ( ^_^) ). But he quickly got us back on track and we only lost a couple of minutes...plus it was nice just walking around talking.

The restaurant was really cute. It was a little cafe called Limone just around the corner from city hall. I think we would describe it as "country" in The States. Not hoe-down country, but quaint and rustic. The chairs and tables were all mismatched and the decor was all done in earthy colors. We sat at the table for two in the center of the dining area, and the little girl next to us stared at me throughout most of the meal. It was already 20 minutes past so Atsushi told them we had to hurry because we were on lunch break so we got our order in pretty quick. I looked up the menu online before we got there so I wouldn't have to take the time to read it (food words are still tough)...

Since we only had about 20 minutes to eat before we had to head back to city hall, we had to eat pretty quickly which got in the way of talking...but so did our nervousness. The fast eating thing is never good because it is hard to eat really hot food fast, gracefully, while speaking a foreign language, on what MIGHT be a date?...

He was pretty quiet at first but seemed to warm up and relax a bit. It was really cute because at one point we got to talking about winter in Kameoka and how cold it was and I complained about there being no central heating...which he of course didn't understand so we both reached for our electronic dictionaries at the same time.

I got my food after he did so I was slower to finish. Since we were running out of time he paid the bill while I finished up. I of course offered to pay, but he said that since he did the inviting he would do the paying.

When we got to the entrance we both reached for the door at the same time (awkward) so I pulled back and let him get the door. Since I went through first I got to the second door first and held it open for him, claiming, when he protested, that it was me being an American girl. He seemed shocked by this and questioned "Isn't it ladies first in America?" I felt bad telling him that under most circumstances that is an outdated way of thinking.

We barely made it back on time, I had to dash across the 4th floor and made it to my office just as the chimes announcing the end of the lunch break.

A few hours into the work day my colleague, Fukuchi-san, leaned over to me and said quietly "So, I saw you after lunch. You were with a boy?" *wink wink* *nudge nudge*

Crap. Caught.

So I smiled and just said "Yeah, he's a friend. We met up for lunch. That's why I was late."

She gave a "knowing" smile and went back to work while I tried not to turn bright red.

After work I sent a text thanking him for lunch saying we should do it again sometime, etc. He responded with a message apologizing for being quiet during lunch because he "felt shy" (*^^*)ﾎﾟｯ as it was just the two of us, but that we should get together sometime after Golden Week for dinner so we wouldn't have time restrictions.
八(＾□＾*)

Now, I am not actually calling this a date yet. I barely know him and am not sure if I am really interested in a cross-cultural/cross-lingual relationship/whatever. Looking at it from a Japanese cultural perspective it was probably a date because guys and girls very rarely go out one-on-one as friends. If a guy and a girl go out to dinner alone together it is fairly safe to call it a date. From an American cultural perspective, a guy and a girl can meet and then go out as friends. So I am reserving judgment and trying not to get ahead of myself.
(･_･?)

Though my friends here are all saying "I told you so."