Hillbilly

I had lunch with some Japanese friends the other day. We went for yakiniku in Susa. It was me, Christine and Louise. It was with the Watanabes, our Japanese family, and they brought a few of our other friends.

This was the first time I met Yama-chan. He is a 50 year old mechanic in my town. Unmarried, smoker, big drinker, mechanic who lives in rural Japan. He is the Japanese version of a hillbilly in my opinion. Do you ever imagine if you brought a Japanese friend home and introduced them to someone that almost speaks a different language than you, and doesn't understand how to talk to foreigners? This was Yama-chan to a T.

I didn't understand a word of Japanese that he was saying. It was all in rural, hillbilly-ben (dialect) using all sorts of slang that I don't understand. He kept calling us kimi-tachi which I believe to be the slang for 'y'all'. On top of that, he didn't realize that he had to speak slowly to us, using easy Japanese. He carried on as if we were his next door neighbors. Mind you, he was fairly wasted (at 11am...) so I guess I can excuse him for that.

After yakiniku he passed out on the Watanabes floor, mumbling in his sleep.