âAâAmorousâŠ?!â Voice jumping a little with nerves, the flush on her face darkened a little with embarrassment, obscured a few moments later by her hair as she ducked her head in apology a few times. âOh, thatâsâsorry, I overstepped, probablyâŠ?! I was just⊠a little bit⊠in awe, is all! Sorry!â
   âAhâmy⊠motherâŠ?â Sayuri, wholly unaccustomed to anyone using the word in the past several years without adding âstep-â in front of it beforehand, experienced a brief moment of confusion followed by a short moment of glumness, before rapidly bouncing back to her previous demeanor, flashing a nervous smile and resuming her slowed steps a little. âAâh, you mean Inoue-sanâŠ? Well, I think sheâs just⊠the sort of charismatic, go-with-the-flow type of person who is easily pulled away by others at parties, and itâs possible she thought she was doing me a favor in not dragging me along with herâŠ? I think either way, I would have ended up feeling a little overwhelmed, so⊠it was sort of a lose-lose, regardless. She meant well, Iâm sure.â
   âAâAmazing⊠You really make it sound so easy, Chun-san, but⊠the problem is thatâŠâ And here was the point she began to get more frantic, speaking with a little more speed and urgency: âI donât know what answers people are expecting from meâŠ?! And as for what theyâre enthusiastic aboutâI really have no idea how to connect in that way yet. UmâŠ! Usually Iâm pretty alright at talking to adults, but I canât exactly talk about vegetable gardens or grocery-store couponing to anyone at this kind of fancy party, right?! âŠCome to think of it, why have so many of my conversations with people revolved around produce my whole life?! Itâs a good conversation starter, but you can only talk about carrots for so long, right?!â
   Sheâd gone off on a little bit of a tangent there. Oh god, Mina was definitely going to regret making the mistake of treating her kindly and taking her somewhere she had to talk one-on-one with her like this, wasnât she? This was not a good (sort-of) first impression at all!
   Save the situation, Sayuri! I donât know how, but save iiiitttttâŠ!!
   âUmâŠ! Nevermind. Please forget I said any of that, sorry.â Actually, itâs fine, everything is fine, hahaâŠâ Feeling a faint sheen of nervous sweat break out at the back of her neck, Sayuri took the opportunity to shut herself up by sipping tentatively at the champagne as indicated. Sweeter than I expectedâŠÂ Swallowing the small sip, she chuckled weakly, marveled at their picturesque surroundings for a moment, and then blurted: âAâat any rate, yesâŠ! The garden really is very pretty⊠The power of professional landscapers and gardeners really is amazing, huhâŠ?â The upkeep must be a lot of hard work. Everything in its proper place and trimmed just so, and all. They ought to put a little plaque down in front of it all with all their names, itâs so lovely!â
"Still," Mina said, "She could have taken you under her wing a bit more, instead of leaving you to flounder so." Mina was quick to judgement of both herself and others. She suddenly had a vivid memory of her father's towering form leaning over her, pump fingers on her back whispering into her ear. She was about 6-7, standing in the doorway of a gala, at an event like this. He was telling her the names of those in attendance, and giving her a sentence or two background information. 'That is Mr and Mrs Paik they run an important textile company. Mrs. Paik is very interested in antique pottery. That is Mrs. Ryang, she sits on a committee for the beatification ofâŠ. ' All information Mina was to retain and regurgitate if asked of course.
It had been years since Mina had received such prepping. She was expected to have a catalogue of such knowledge on hand at this point. Granted a new city meant a new faces, but the upper crust of Tokyo and Seoul had a certain degree of overlap due to proximity alone. And while she didn't know everyone in the room, there were familiar faces which were at least a jumping point, and those she had heard of second hand. "Perhaps when you compose yourself a bit and feel more prepared I will tell you about the people in the room and we can practice some introductions," she said with a casual wave of her hand.
Mina frowned as the words began to tumble out of Sayuri's mouth like pebbles down a hill. "Grocery stores? What is couponing, is that even a verb? Do commoners have to grow their own produce? That seems like an awful hassle." Mina's brow furrowed a bit and she shook her head "No I do not think this topic will go over well with this particular crowd. Many have ever been in a grocery store I bet, I haven't," she shrugged casually and took another sip of champaign.Â
She gently patted the girls hand "Now, now, no apologizing. We'll just have to come up with some safe conversation starters for you⊠hmmm⊠let's see." Mina lightly tapped a perfectly manicured finger against her lips. "Ah yes, you can always compliment a lady on what she is wearing and ask where she got whatever item of clothing you are complimenting. Most of the lady's could speak for a solid 30 minutes on just about any piece adorning her body. That is a very safe topic of conversation."
"For gentlemen, you can ask how business is," Mina paused and frowned, "Though⊠this one can be tricky because if it is not going well and that is public knowledge that could be a social faux pas. So best to have a little forward knowledge. Oh, and never ask what someones business is. Everyone in there thinks they are important enough that you 'should have heard of them by now'" Mina drawled the last bit sarcastically.Â
"It's typically safe to comment on the venue. Like I did with the garden for example. We are here to view the new hotel, so complimenting it is rather safe. Though if they then say something snide about the venue be prepared to have said the first comment is such a way that it could have been interpreted as sarcastic so you can quickly align yourself with their tone. Read the room if you will." Mina furrowed her brow, "I suppose it's a bit more complicated then I initially stated, It's just something I'm very well practiced at I suppose," she patted Sayuri arm reassuringly. "But don't worry, it will come with time and confidence. We just have to find your new couponing, that's all."
