Freudian Slip

Alright, alright, so it's been a while. Well, let me throw a small morsel to the bloghounds on my trail to distract them for but a brief moment. I had a 'Parallel Universe' experience the other day to end all 'Parallel Universe' experiences.

Last Friday eve, Yasumi and I ventured into Kawasaki for a nice meal and a flick - as the Olds say. We had dinner at an Izakaya called Amataro - a medium-priced establishment that is rather unique for two reasons: one being that all ordering is done via a touch-screen interface located at each table (it's like a little laptop screen that you can pick up and even take with you to the toilet should the need arise) ; the other reason is that they sell beer in 1 litre glass mugs - although I cannot report to have purchased this novelty item (on this occasion). Oh, and there is one other reason - they have on the menu something that resembles - with reasonable accuracy - a sausage roll. Actually it's more like a weiner in pastry but they are pretty tasty. My American collegues know them as "pigs in blankets". They would score an eight out of ten if they weren't defiled by a reckless coating of mayonnaise.

So we had a nice dinner and then carried our full bellies onto the Toho cinema complex which, in my opinion is a hidden treasure. It's far less popular then the more centrally located Cinecitta and as a result is never busy. It also has a cool future-spacey interior. The best part however, is that ALL movies screened after 9pm (even latest releases) are classified as late shows and only cost 1200yen instead of 1800yen. Very cool. Their one premium cinema's tickets also come down to 1200yen after 9pm. So, we went in and bought two tickets for Munich. Very cool as it was actually screening in the premium cinema and we got in for the bargain price.

Now, so far in my story, naught have I mentioned of the 'experience' as yet. That actually happened the next day at work. I entered the classroom, sat down and waited for my student who hadn't yet arrived. A few minutes later he appeared and he joined me at the table of learning. The student had actually been studying all day in that room and I was just taking over from another teacher, so his book was already open ready for action. I politely broke the ice inquiring as to his previous day's endeavors and he informed me that he had been off to the cinema to see a movie. How interesting I thought - me too. I asked what movie he saw and he said some Japanese title. I mentioned that I too saw a movie yesterday. I told him that I saw Munich at the Toho cinemas. We went on to discuss in agreeance the virtues of the Toho cinema complex, and then the conversation subsided. I then motioned towards the textbook and suggested we begin. He looks at the book and reads the first sentence - it reads: Have you ever been to Munich?

What are the odds I ask you? By the way, the picture up top bears no reference to the content of this blog entry. It was just my cooky idea.