i think i'm turning japanese

One day while at the Happy's Mart on Linh Lang Street in Hanoi, I ran into a bit of a situation where the shop attendants were straining to make sense of what a Japanese woman was trying to tell them. It seemed as if she wanted to find something in the store but couldn't communicate to them what it was since her English was limited and the shop clerks didn't speak Japanese. Since I used to patron the shop fairly often, the girls who worked there asked me to help them decipher what the woman wanted.

After what was more of a series of gestures than a verbal conversation, I took her to the isle with plastic wrap for food, or saran wrap, and the big smile and "tank you, tank you!" that erupted confirmed that she had found what she was looking for. Those smiles continued as she rattled something off in Japanese to me and although I shook my head to show I didn't understand, it wasn't long until I had exchanged phone numbers with her and had agreed to meet her for coffee the next day.

This is how my coffee dates with Sachi began. We always meet at the same cafe, AIM cafe on Linh Lang street, just a few doors down from the Happy Mart, and "talk" about ourselves. Any onlooker to the conversations we have would think that we are both deaf, since we sit with a computer between us and use an online translator to communicate.

Now, understand that the translations are not always right. Last time we met, Sachi was headed back to Japan and asked if she could bring me back a potato. I invited her to a party recently and following was the email I got from her:

"Lia,
Is it cheerful?

I invit it thank you.

I e-mailed a PC before but I worried about how an answer made it not be it. and was marriage fixed at the party?

Do around several people gather?

I inform it of whether i can go

-sachi"

I can only imagine what my messages to her say.