Tall caramel macchiato -Murakami radio-

            Young couples who appear to be on their honeymoon from Japan are often seen in foreign countries. They look very happy. I often think to myself, "I'm so happy for them, they got married". If everyone stays single, Japan's working population will shrink even further. However, when I look at these people, I often find myself twisting my neck, as I often see women in the front, taking charge of the English conversation, while the men sit in the back, fidgeting and waiting for them to finish their business. Why is this? Are women better at languages than men? Or is the trend in society as a whole that women's voltage is increasing while men's is decreasing? In terms of school performance, girls often outperform boys, so perhaps the honeymoon is just an extension of that. I'm tempted to say to the men, "Hey, get a grip, will you?" as a matter of fact. But of course, I don't.

A few years ago, when I was waiting for my order at Starbucks in Honolulu, there was a Japanese woman in front of me. She was on her honeymoon, as usual, and she placed her order in the queue, while her young husband sat on a chair and waited helplessly. The person taking orders at the counter was an American girl with blonde hair in a ponytail. The woman said in faltering English, "Um, one tall Caramel Macchiato ice and...", and the American girl behind the counter repeated in fluent Japanese, "Yes, one tall Caramel Macchiato ice". She happened to be an American who could speak Japanese. But the woman in front of me did not seem to notice that she was speaking Japanese at all, and said in English, "And another tall iced café au lait, please".
     
 The American girl didn't move after that and kept smiling in Japanese from start to finish (would you like it here or to go?) The woman in front of me kept speaking in English until the end. She must have had it programmed in advance that she had to say this in English and was so preoccupied with it that she didn't even notice what language the other person was speaking.
It had never occurred to her that the blonde girl might speak Japanese. I thought about telling her, "Um, she's speaking Japanese over there," but I decided it was best not to do anything unnecessary and just listened to the odd passing conversation in a mysterious way. Well, as long as they can understand each other, that's all that matters.

 When I think back to that scene, I can't help smiling, but I don't think it's funny or anything like that. I had a natural liking for her then, and I still do. Naturally, I think she is definitely better than the guy sitting in the back of the room, waiting idly in his chair. It's really a painstaking thing to communicate your intentions to someone in a foreign country, in a language you're not used to. I hope she is happily married somewhere. Maybe that's just unnecessary, though. By the way, I haven't had a caramel macchiato yet, but what does it taste like?

Murakami this week.

Come to think of it, I've never had anything other than a regular coffee at Starbucks. Am I missing out on life?