Every once in a while I encounter a Japanese person who, for whatever reason, can’t accept the fact that I speak their language. The other day I went to the denkiya (electronics store) to pick up some items and browse all the bright and shiny things they had on display. The store I was in had an excellent selection of Japanese massage chairs, and I decided to sit a spell and read email on my iPhone, since getting a shiatsu massage while doing email is a pretty cool combination. The minute I sat down, a female employee of the store appeared and, in rather broken English, started explaining the various benefits of owning a $3000 massage chair. Despite the fact that my replies and counter-questions were all in Japanese, she kept explaining in English, pushing buttons on the remote control to demonstrate the various functions of the chair. In the end I gave up and spoke English to the lady, who never seemed to register that I had lived in Japan for years and spoke the language fluently.
An electronics shop is a great place for a language lesson.
