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Hi, sorry, odd question; did I do something offensive?

JeanB

後輩
25 Apr 2013
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Hello! I'm sorry, I have an odd question...
I was a tourist in Yellowstone National Park waiting for some geyser to go off, when I was approached by a Japanese couple. He asked something about when the geyser would go off. (The answer is I didn't really know, but said what the sign said.) As I was responding, I looked from him to her then back to him, as I had done so, her eyes got a little bigger and then backed up and hid behind him.
And no, I wasn't "checking her out." And I'd hardly consider myself intimidating; I'm a petite and small woman.
Obviously I'm not mad; only confused. Did I do something weird? I'd more like to say this was just a fluke. I like Japan and was planning a trip soon.
I'm likely just being my insecure self, but I've stopped practicing my "essentials" Japanese. I'm not sure i want to go to Japan if my face is scary..
 
Have you ever encountered an odd American? Did it cause you to think all 300+ million people in America were like that?
 
Have you ever encountered an odd American? Did it cause you to think all 300+ million people in America were like that?

No of course not. And I imagine this wont likely happen again either.

It seems I got my feelings hurt and lost my motivation for this.
 
Do you have an intimidating appearance for a small and petite woman? (hard to imagine, but who knows?) Broken teeth, snarl, scar or tattoo, etc.

No idea.

Drop it. You are going to be stared at a lot in Japan anyway (unless you look Asian), and small kids will either stare and call you gaijin, or they will cower away in fear. Get used to it now.
 
Hello! I'm sorry, I have an odd question...
I was a tourist in Yellowstone National Park waiting for some geyser to go off, when I was approached by a Japanese couple. He asked something about when the geyser would go off. (The answer is I didn't really know, but said what the sign said.) As I was responding, I looked from him to her then back to him, as I had done so, her eyes got a little bigger and then backed up and hid behind him.
And no, I wasn't "checking her out." And I'd hardly consider myself intimidating; I'm a petite and small woman.
Obviously I'm not mad; only confused. Did I do something weird? I'd more like to say this was just a fluke. I like Japan and was planning a trip soon.
I'm likely just being my insecure self, but I've stopped practicing my "essentials" Japanese. I'm not sure i want to go to Japan if my face is scary..
Don't worry about it. I don't know what she was thinking any more than you do, but it's not something to change your mind over. Maybe it was you, maybe it was her, but it wasn't the country of Japan.
 
It's possible that she was afraid you would address her in English, that she's not confident about her own English ability, and that she was afraid she would embarrass herself when she was unable to respond.
 
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