dk
07-21-2007, 08:58 PM
... and found out that it was the last night they would be open. :mad:
It's kind of a long story as to why this is a sad thing.
A few months ago, I was moping around the house kind of bummed out. With a new baby in the house, our sleeping habits have been thrown out of wack and my wife started going to bed earlier and earlier so she could wake up early in the morning when the baby wakes up. This led to some boredom and loneliness on my part.
So, one Friday night, I was a little overly lonely and decided to check out a bar by my house that I've driven by dozens of times. It was within walking distance, so after the wife went to bed, I walked over.
Small little darts bar in Urasoe.
When I entered, I was greeted with a "woah, a foreigner look". I was later told that no other Americans have ever visited that bar.
I ordered a beer and watched a few of the locals shoot darts. I didn't talk as I didn't know anyone. Eventually, one of the guys at the other table started talking to me in broken English. It turned out that everyone at the table next to me were Japanese programmers working for a bank near my house, so we instantly had something to relate to. They invited me to their table and we had a drunken talk about all kinds of things.
I never saw those guys again.
The next time I came, there were only one or two people in the bar and I didn't know anyone. I pretty much felt like a shadow and wasn't paid much attention. After a while, I tried to spark up some conversation, but nothing really happened. I was still the new guy.
The next time I came, it was pretty much the same situation, but I finally got the owner to open up to me a little by asking him to shoot a game of darts with me. Before that, he'd just kind of stand there and make no effort to communicate. After we shot darts, it was like a big wall crumbled.
Since then, I visited three or four more times, and each visit things seemed like the bar regulars were starting to open up more and more and that I was FINALLY making some progress in the friends department.
Yesterday, I showed up, and the bar was full. A few of the random strangers gave me the "woah a foreigner" look, but the bartender and owner were cool from the get go. When the bar emptied a little bit, I had a lot of friendly conversation with the bartender, and owner.
And then right before closing time, they broke it to me: They were closing their bar in my area and opening up shop in Matsuyama. :(
I'll probably go visit them from time to time. I'm really glad I had the chance to make some friends and that they eventually opened up to me, but the thing I always liked about this bar is that on those days when I get overly lonely from a quiet house, I can always walk to the bar three minutes away from my house. I don't even like darts. I'll probably go visit them at the new bar once or twice to wish them luck, but this is a real bummer for me. I was really hopeing to make some local friends from around my area.
And there's my long, sad, tragic story of the day.
It's kind of a long story as to why this is a sad thing.
A few months ago, I was moping around the house kind of bummed out. With a new baby in the house, our sleeping habits have been thrown out of wack and my wife started going to bed earlier and earlier so she could wake up early in the morning when the baby wakes up. This led to some boredom and loneliness on my part.
So, one Friday night, I was a little overly lonely and decided to check out a bar by my house that I've driven by dozens of times. It was within walking distance, so after the wife went to bed, I walked over.
Small little darts bar in Urasoe.
When I entered, I was greeted with a "woah, a foreigner look". I was later told that no other Americans have ever visited that bar.
I ordered a beer and watched a few of the locals shoot darts. I didn't talk as I didn't know anyone. Eventually, one of the guys at the other table started talking to me in broken English. It turned out that everyone at the table next to me were Japanese programmers working for a bank near my house, so we instantly had something to relate to. They invited me to their table and we had a drunken talk about all kinds of things.
I never saw those guys again.
The next time I came, there were only one or two people in the bar and I didn't know anyone. I pretty much felt like a shadow and wasn't paid much attention. After a while, I tried to spark up some conversation, but nothing really happened. I was still the new guy.
The next time I came, it was pretty much the same situation, but I finally got the owner to open up to me a little by asking him to shoot a game of darts with me. Before that, he'd just kind of stand there and make no effort to communicate. After we shot darts, it was like a big wall crumbled.
Since then, I visited three or four more times, and each visit things seemed like the bar regulars were starting to open up more and more and that I was FINALLY making some progress in the friends department.
Yesterday, I showed up, and the bar was full. A few of the random strangers gave me the "woah a foreigner" look, but the bartender and owner were cool from the get go. When the bar emptied a little bit, I had a lot of friendly conversation with the bartender, and owner.
And then right before closing time, they broke it to me: They were closing their bar in my area and opening up shop in Matsuyama. :(
I'll probably go visit them from time to time. I'm really glad I had the chance to make some friends and that they eventually opened up to me, but the thing I always liked about this bar is that on those days when I get overly lonely from a quiet house, I can always walk to the bar three minutes away from my house. I don't even like darts. I'll probably go visit them at the new bar once or twice to wish them luck, but this is a real bummer for me. I was really hopeing to make some local friends from around my area.
And there's my long, sad, tragic story of the day.