Since the Covid19 pandemic, sadly, almost no foreign tourists have visited Kobe. Before this crisis, my steakhouse was teeming with many foreign guests every day. They had great conversations with big smiles while enjoying our dishes. It was a good memory. I miss the days when we welcomed and served our dearest customers from all around the world. I really hope that this worldwide coronavirus situation will settle down as soon as possible.
Now, all I need to do is challenge myself to try things that I couldn’t when I was tied up with work since I have a lot more free time now compared to before the pandemic. One of those challenges is studying Spanish, which I talked about in my other post. I got to my favorite café, as often as I can, in the Motomachi area, Kobe, and focus on my Spanish learning. It has already become my regular routine and it’s very important to me.
The other day, I was studying Spanish at the café like usual. And I just happened to find a foreigner sitting at a table 2 meters away from me (his table was next to mine but far because of social distancing…). He looked nice and cool. He was working very diligently on his laptop PC. I was curious about what he was doing so I tried to greet him. He noticed me and greeted me back with a smile. We talked just a little bit so that I wouldn’t interrupt his work. He said that he came from Estonia. He seemed to be working on a design-related project. When I left the café, he was still concentrating on his stuff at the table.
A couple of days later, I went to the same café and was looking around the floor to find a vacant table. What a coincidence! I saw the man I met the last time sitting at exactly the same table. While I was walking towards his table, he noticed me and smiled at me. And this time, he was the one who started talking to me first! We had a fantastic conversation and shared many topics together. One of the topics surprised me again! He currently lives in the Wadamisaki area which is the same area as where I live. On top of that, he loves the Onsen hot spring and I love it, too. We made a promise to go to the Onsen spot together in the near future.
A series of coincidences at a cafe on the street corner of Kobe created an amazing opportunity for a great encounter. It goes way beyond generations and nationalities.
What wonderful global communication!
Have a great rest of your day!
Sonoshi Okumoto
