A Japanese World

I was entering a hotel lobby with one of my cousins; we were attending a seminar conducted by a group of Japanese about preparing Japanese food and beverages. I was wearing a somewhat frilly dress, while my cousin wore a sort of corporate suit. As we stood in the lobby, trying to decide where to go, she told me to leave my bag behind (because it was a little big and heavy, and she felt that it might “get in the way” as we interact with other people in the seminar) and we can just go back for it later on. I hesitated, but thought that it might be better not to be hindered by it later on if I needed to go around and mingle. 

So I left my bag (it’s a brown bag I actually have in real life) under one of the couches. There were many people nearby and we knew it was safe as long as they were there, because no one would take it. So, we went upstairs to the function room. 

There were rows of seats and I was a little surprised that it was a classroom setting, because I was expecting it to be more relaxed. So, we sat at the front row, and right in front of us were mini stoves and cooking counters. There were only a few people since most of them were hanging out at the lobby. 

After a while, a group of Japanese chefs marched in, and they all looked stern and serious, and I suddenly felt afraid of them. They were impatient and expected everyone to understand immediately what they were saying, even if their English was hard to understand. Later on, one of the chefs showed a dessert or soup, and I reacted, suddenly excited, because it looked so nice. He looked at me sharply because he got distracted, then asked me a question in Japanese, which I answered in Japanese too. He seemed to realize that we all do appreciate what they are teaching us, so his face softened a bit. 

After a while, the seminar was finished, and I ran into another Japanese guy who smiled at me, and then I said “Ohayou!” and he replied back, waving at me. I suddenly realized that I could understand all of them even if they spoke in Japanese, but it was more like I understood it on a different level, like I didn’t really understand the actual terms, but I knew what they meant.

Next scenario was a party wherein the food they served were the ones prepared by the chefs during the seminar. I was starting to think about my bag, and was worrying that it might get lost. I told my cousin that we should get it and she said it can wait. I told her my mobile phone and wallet were there, and I can’t afford to lose them. I knew she won’t be convinced, so I decided to go and get it myself. 

I then ran into another Japanese guy, and before I could say hi, he led me outside of the party hall and said we should take a walk. I said sure, but that I should get my bag first. He agreed, and then we went down to the lobby. Oddly, the entire hotel was closed, and the party people were the only ones left in the building. The entire lobby was dark. I worried that my things might be lost, but I found my bag. I carried it and we walked out the door.

Later on as we reached the busier parts of the street, he held my hand and I wanted to break free, but he held tightly and I realized that he has defined the walk as my agreement to be his girlfriend. I was getting confused because I knew I liked another Japanese guy, but his name kept fading and I would almost remember it but my mind wanders as I start to do so. 

In the next scenario, we were walking on a grassy park and he suddenly stopped dead so I did too. As I slowly turned my head towards him beside me, he gently squeezed my hand as if telling me not to move. Then I understood why - out of the corner of my eye, we were surrounded by killer ninjas. They were after him, but they would kill me too for being with him. Once again, he squeezed my hand and “reminded” me that I have powers too, and can get away, and that I will be able to deal with the one or two ninjas who choose to follow me. He assured me that he would deal with the rest surrounding him. So, slowly, I walked forward, and pushed myself off the ground, and started to jump-fly towards a nearby building, as one or two ninjas ran after me. My intention was to get inside the building and blend in with the people in it so that they can’t simply grab me and create a scene. 

Once inside, I found some previous workmates in some kind of party, and I felt so bored being around them that the everything started to fade.