You are learning meeting people: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (past tense for social interactions), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
A standing sushi bar in Ginza, Tokyo — no seats, no reservations. You stand at a wooden counter, order piece by piece, and talk to the chef and the person standing next to you.
The standing sushi bar is six meters of cypress counter, no chairs, and a chef who has been pressing nigiri for thirty years. In Ginza, these bars sit between luxury boutiques — affordable brilliance hidden in plain sight.
The stranger walked in alone. 「カウンターに立ちました。」 He stood at the counter. The chef nodded. 「寿司職人に会いました。」
The person standing next to him was a regular. 「隣の人と話しました。」 They talked about the day's fish. The regular recommended the kohada — gizzard shad, silver-skinned, vinegar-cured.
「食べ方を教えてもらいました。」 The regular taught him: turn the nigiri upside down, dip the fish — not the rice — into soy sauce. One bite. 「一緒に食べました。おいしかったです。」 Strangers eating together at a counter. That's standing sushi.