Stepping inside the Bar, Mr Tanaka spotted the three students immediately and directed them to a small, somewhat private area in the back corner of his establishment. The size of the table, which didn't even come up to their knees, surprised the foreigners, but after Daiki kneeled down on the tatami mats they followed his example as well, finding that now the table was actually at a comfortable height.
"So what do you two make of Yamatanuki and Hiyokuna so far?" the local asked of the other two while they waited for a waiter to take their orders.
"While it's smaller, the Campus and its facilities aren't that different from what we have back home." Gabe commented as he tried to figure out the most comfortable way to sit on the floor. "But this town isn't really like anything I've seen before, its so small."
"Interesting." Laura commented, kneeling before the table somewhat comfortable already. "Hiyokuna isn't that different from smaller towns near the Alps, but my university had all it's buildings and facilities scattered across Munich. So having everything this close together is something to get used to for me. We also don't have a stadium or gym that belongs to the university, I think at least."
As Gabe was about to reply to Laura, a waiter came, asking for their orders.
"I'll have a beer please"
"Some Sake for me please"
"I'll take a Coke for now" Gabe finished their order, causing the others to give him strange looks, and once the waiter was leaving the young woman of the group spoke.
"Why did you order a coke? I thought we came here to drink together."
"Because I'm not allowed to drink yet? I'm only 20 afterall." Gabe responded, which caused Daiki to chuckle.
"That is old enough to drink here Gabe." the Local explained, trying not to smile too wide.
"Oh" was Gabes only response to that, before he turned to Laura. "So if you don't have any sports facilities at your University, does that mean you have no sports teams either?"
"We don't really have college or university sport as a thing in Germany." Laura began her explanation as she brushes her ponytail back behind her shoulder. "While there is some sport offered through the university, it's using facilities from the city or other organisations for all that. As for competitive sports, we have clubs for most of that, which are, in most cases, not tied to any school or college and are drawing on all people living in their area that want to do that sport."
"Huh, interesting, So you don't have sport based scholarships either."
"Not as far as I know, but they aren't really needed either, as people don't need to be in college to do professional or semi-professional sports, not to mention that university in Germany is not as expensive as other places." was the response he got from Laura, who was nervously drumming her fingers on the table.
"If you say so" Gabe agreed as the waiter returned with their drinks.
After they all had their beverages in hand, Daiki raised his cup of sake, waiting for the others to pick up their drinks as well. Once all the glasses were in the air, he spoke up, "Well here's to a relaxed Semester for you two, Kanpai."
"Kanpai" Came the echo from Laura and Gabe before all three of them drank.
"Not bad." the German commented as she puts down her beer. "Not what I am used to, but decent enough. I think it would make a great Radler."
"What's a Radler?" the American of the group inquired before taking another drink from his glass.
"It's a mix of beer and lemonade, which was supposedly invented so people that arrived in the beer garden by bicycle wouldn't be too drunk to ride home safely." She explained with an amused grin on her face. "Thus Radler, based on the fact many people call bicycles simply 'Rad' in germany."
"Well it definitely sounds like a way to drink more without getting more drunk." Daiki said as he refilled his cup from the bottle of sake standing next to his currently empty cup.
"If you say so" Gabe replied, missing personal experience with alcohol to feel qualified to judge this himself.
"So Gabe" Daiki began after taking another sip from his cup. "What position are you actually playing in Football?"
"Well in High School I played defensive tackle, but last season I was mostly a backup player. Ended up playing only one or two game, sometimes as defensive end, sometimes as tackle." Gabe responded, a hint of disappointment on his face.
While Daiki seemed to be trying his best to remember what that actually meant, Laura just asked for more information. "So for those at the table that have barely seen a game or two when there was nothing better on late sunday evening, what's those players job?"
"So in Football the two teams form a line each at the beginning of each play." Gabe explained passionately. "the offensive and defensive line respectively. The main players of the defensive line are the, normally, two defensive tackles in the center of it, and the defensive end next to them, and their job is to stop plays where the offense has their running back carry the ball forward and pressure the quarterback when he attempts a forward pass."
"So I better keep out of the way if you ever get angry, or you would just run me into the ground, or the closest wall." Laura joked, a wide smile on her face before she finished her beer.
"Probably." Gabe managed to say after letting out a loud laugh. "You know what, let's try this Radler" He continued after he drained the last sip of coke from his glass.
"Sure, Let me see if we can get an empty glass alongside a lemon soda and a beer." Laura replied, a faint grin still on her face. Waving the waiter over for their new drink order, the young German was soon handed a bottle of beer, a glass of lemon soda and an empty glass. Under the watchful eyes of her male companions, Laura split the soda between the two glasses. Once that was done with only minimal spills, she filled up both glasses with half the contents of the bottle, before handing one of the mixed drinks to Gabe.
Taking up her own, she moved it forward until she was holding it over the middle of the table, looking gabe straight into the eyes. Unsure what her intention was, he mirrored her action with his own glass, before, to the americans surprise, Laura slightly hit her glass against his. "Prost." She cheered before breaking eye contact with Gabe to take the first sip of her mixed drink.