In our office building, there is a middle-aged Japanese lady who comes every weekday to clean the toilet. Everyday at around 11AM, she arrives with her bucket of cleaning materials, announces herself and goes directly to do her task. Since our restroom is small, it takes her about 10 to 15 minutes to finish. She then informs everyone listening that she is done and is leaving. That's her daily routine for our floor.
However, she is a funny lady. Whenever I or my foreign colleagues see her in the office, she becomes excited. She talks to us and tells us all sorts of things. Usually, some Japanese people take advantage of this situation by talking to us in English. They use this chance to practice English speaking and listening skills. In her case, she doesn't. She rattles on in Japanese not stopping to check if we understood what she said. But we are sure it is with good intentions... hopefully! So last week, I saw her. And this is how our convo went before she did her task:
Japanese lady: Ii tenki desu ne (The weather is nice, isn't it?)
Me (smiling proudly): Sou desu ne. (It is, isn’t it?!)
Japanese lady (looking at my attire): Kyō wa anata wa totemo suteki desu! (You look great today.)
Me (beaming and slightly bowing my head): Arigato. (Thank you.)
Japanese lady: Eh... something... something.... something....
Me (smiling less but nodding pretending to listen): Hmm...
Japanese lady: something... oyatsu #おやつ (snacks) ... something .... (By this time I thought she was asking if I have snacks.)
Me (just barely smiling): Hai. (Yes)
Phone rang so I had to excuse myself . Saved by the ring! Whew! When she finished her task, I was still on the phone. So I went on to do my tasks as well.
Around 1PM our receptionist entered our office area and gave me a box. She said the cleaning lady dropped it off. When I opened, it was a box of sweets. That's when I realized that she asked me if I wanted something for snacks and I said YES! Everyone laughed and enjoyed my snacks.
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