Since Steve said that my last post was a waste of time, I'mma gonna post again.

A couple of days ago, I went to the train station to reserve some tickets for a trip I'm taking around Japan after I leave Date. Went into the office, sat down, and waited for a guy to come out and help me figure this thing out. A guy came out a few moments later and I tell him that I'm looking for a way to get to Nagano prefecture from Hokkaido via local trains. We talk for a while, clarify a few things, and it looked like everything was going well.

Then, his attitude changed. He started getting gruff with me and it was obvious that he didn't want to be there anymore. "Are you done?" "Do you need me anymore?" After a few minutes, he said, "Do you understand?" and I obviously didn't, but I said "Yes," and ran away.

Later that day, I talked with a few Japanese people about the incident to try to figure out why his demeanor changed so rapidly. Most suggested that he might have thought I was treating him like a retarded man. Why? Because I probably didn't speak perfect Japanese. That's right. I speak inperfect Japanese, and the guy takes that to mean that I think HE is retarded. Does this not make sense to anybody else out there?