Only one problem (5/26投稿の「たった一つの問題」の翻訳）

Even though it’s obvious, when you learn a language, you can make friends with the locals and enjoy life. My language training is still in its infancy, but even so, I have made many friends in the United States and France, where I have stayed for extended periods.

There is an old town in southern France called Manosque, with a population of about 15,000, where I stayed for seven years. When I was eating at a restaurant in this old town, the owner, an elderly man, spoke to me and we talked about many things, as it was rare to see a Japanese person that knows French. One of those things was how the owner’s son recently opened a restaurant near my house. So, I also went to try out his son's restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, I met back with the owner again and told him about my experience. He asked me what I thought about his son’s restaurant.

I said, "The food was good, the decor was beautiful, and the service was courteous. It's a good restaurant." The owner and his wife both seemed pleased to hear this.

But I also said, "Unfortunately, there was only one problem." Startled and with straight faces, the couple asked, "What's that one problem? Please tell us."

I said, "You see, it was really hard to get a reservation."

Hearing this, the owner and his wife, as well as the owner's friends who were around listening, burst into laughter. The owner and his wife were all smiles again.

From this moment, whenever the owner saw me at his son's or his own restaurant, he would serve me a large glass of wine, smiling.

I can still picture him bragging to his friends and customers about his son, saying, "You have to hear this story about this interesting Japanese guy I met.”