You are learning arrival and seating: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (ございます + arrival phrases), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
The moment you enter a Tokyo restaurant. The greeting, the bow, the handover of coat, the seating at a counter or table. Japanese hospitality — omotenashi — begins at the door.
The elevator opens on the eighth floor. A woman in a kimono bows. 「いらっしゃいませ。」 The stranger bows in return.
「七時に予約した[名前]です。」 She checks the ledger — handwritten, not digital. 「はい、お待ちしておりました。こちらへどうぞ。」
The counter seats eight. Chef Kondo is already working — his movements economical, utterly precise. The oil shimmers at exactly the right temperature. An assistant places a folded oshibori in front of the stranger, hot and damp.
「コースはおまかせでよろしいでしょうか。」 Will the omakase course be alright? 「はい、おまかせでお願いします！楽しみにしていました。」
Chef Kondo glances over. A small nod. The meal begins: a single piece of shishito pepper tempura, placed on white paper, oil still crackling. No sauce. Just the vegetable, the batter, and thirty years of precision.