#16 When Changing the Subject

Activate Your Japanese!

What would you do
if you were Xuan?

"Danny and I started
restaurant duties this week."

Samidare-gozen for me.

Yes, ma'am.

Samidare...

Let me repeat your order.

One Seasonal Tempura Set, and one Sami... Samidare-gozen.

And an oolong tea.

Oolong tea? Okay.

Here you are.

Kaisen-don.

Oh my gosh, it looks delicious!

And Chirashi-zushi.

This looks better than the picture.

Thank you.

I'll get some soy sauce.

"Danny's so good at this."

Can I see the menu?

Coming right up.

One oolong tea and...

Do the drinks yourself.

Okay.

- One Seasonal Tenkasu...
- Seasonal Tempura.

Yes, you're right.

And Sami...

Samidare-gozen.

That's it.

"I'm freaking out."

"And Rei-san's kind of distant
and not how I'd expected."

Here you are.

The Ajisai Set.

Enjoy your meal.

Last year's autumn campaign had
a sweet-making contest.

I'm sure these sweets won prizes.

Oh yeah? They are unique.

Right?

Oh, by the way...

What?

Sweets for the office.

Do we need to buy some?

It would make the boss happy.

Xuan-san?

Hey...?

What?

Are you all right? You look pale.

I'm okay.

Xuan!

Are you all right?

Are you feeling ill?

It's nothing.

I'm just a little tired
getting used to the new work.

I see.

I have asked you to do a lot.

Are you eating properly?

Yes.

Then that's all right.

I asked you to work on
the autumn campaign too...

"The autumn campaign..."

"I wonder what happened to
Rei-san's bento."

"Maybe that's making him moody."

You need to get sleep too.

Health comes first.

I understand.

Do you know anything about
Rei-san's autumn bento?

We're talking about that?

Well... Never mind.

I don't know. You should ask him.

Okay. I'll do that.

Well, take it easy.

I will.

Oh dear.

Yansu.

No wonder Ota-san was surprised.

Why is that?

She was worried about you,
asking about your health, and you changed the subject.

But I wanted to know what happened
to Rei-san's bento.

So...

I was too abrupt?

If you want to change the subject, you need to alert the other person
that you're going to do that.

Alert the other person?

How?

I think you just saw an example.

I'm sure these sweets won prizes.

Oh yeah? They are unique.

Right?

Oh, by the way...

What?

Sweets for the office.

I see.

Then go for it.

Go for it?

Rei-san.

Hi.

Is there anything you'd like to ask?

It's your first time
as a waitress, right?

You can tell?

It's pretty obvious.

Ask me if you need help.

Thank you.

Oh, by the way...

The autumn campaign bento...

How is it going?

I've presented my ideas,
but it's not decided yet.

I see.

You must be nervous.

Yeah.

But I think I've done a good job.

I'm confident this time.

That's good.

I'm glad to hear that.

I'm rooting for you.

Good luck!

Thanks.

Xuan-san, break time's over.

I'll be right there.

Okay then.

Yeah.

Xuan?

Xuan!

"I'm glad I was able to ask
about Rei-san's bento, but what's going to happen to me?"

"Today's Strategy!"

Now, when you're having a conversation there are times
when you'd like to change the subject.

What will you do if that happens?

Let's look at the strategy Xuan used.

Ask me if you need help.

Thank you.

By the way...

The autumn campaign bento...

How is it going?

Tell the other person
you're going to change the subject.

"By the way..."

Use this phrase
before changing the subject.

An abrupt change can confuse
the other person.

This phrase will allow you to change
the subject without surprising them.

Like Xuan, it's better to use this phrase after
responding to what the other person said.

Watch your timing
when changing the subject!

Goodbye for now.

Meet senpai from all over Japan, Tsutsu Uraura!

Let's hear about their lives.

Today's senpai is Nalin Dananjaya Ratnayaka from Sri Lanka.

He works at a car dealership in Noda City, Chiba.

This dealership specializes in imported cars.

Nalin, who came to Japan in 2008, works as a mechanic here.

All right! All right!

He works on cars that his company has purchased, making repairs and replacing old or broken parts.

He works on more than 300 cars a year from all around the world.

Just one mistake by me
could lead to a bad accident.

People could die.
So I work carefully every day.

Nalin was inspired to be a mechanic by his dad's Japanese motorcycle.

He admired its quality and wanted to learn Japanese craftsmanship.

He entered a Japanese language school at age 22.

After attending a school for mechanics, he joined this company.

Good morning.

Of the 160 staff members at Nalin's company, 28 are from abroad.

Due to his skill, Nalin is in charge of training junior workers.

At first, I didn't understand
any Japanese.

Nalin taught me in a fun way.

He's a team leader. So it doesn't
matter where anyone is from.

It's an environment that's
easy to work in.

The company values ambition when hiring workers from abroad.

Many staff here hope to open their own businesses back home.

First, they learn the skills they
need while in Japan.

They build trust, then they can
open a partner business abroad.

It's an opportunity.
I have high hopes for them.

Nalin lives in Narita City in Chiba.

On a day off, he heads to a special place with his friend.

A temple in the city center.

More than a thousand years old, it's a popular tourist spot.

Nalin likes looking at the wooden architecture, constructed using expert techniques.

- How's life in Chiba?
- Not sure yet.

His friend, Hangama, is with him.

He's come to Chiba with hopes of starting a car exporting company.

Starting a business involves lots of paperwork and procedures.

Hangama consults with Nalin.

In Japan, you need to fill out
a lot of paperwork.

I'm learning about that now.

You ought to ask a professional.
It would be easier.

I had trouble a decade or so ago
when I came to Japan.

So I want to show him the way
and help him.

He's like my big brother in Japan.
Or maybe my dad!

Every year, Nalin looks forward to eating watermelon in summer.

Chiba is known for the quantity and quality of its watermelons.

It's so sweet.

Japanese watermelon is
juicy and sweet.

I buy watermelon about once a week.
Makes me glad I live in Chiba.

Here's Nalin's favorite word.

Effort.

Effort: setting a goal and working to achieve it.

Technology keeps evolving.

So we need to make an effort
to adapt and learn new things.

Nalin's goal is to improve his skills and become a top mechanic.

He also hopes to support his junior coworkers.

We're rooting for you, Nalin!