1 post tagged “shame”

i really don't post often enough. stuff goes on, i just don't think that much to write about it. what happened recently i thought i'd write about and maybe my neighbors can give some feedback.

i've been studying Japanese for awhile now, not as intensely as i'd like (work, life, etc. getting in the way) but I know some stuff, and and I think I can handle a very basic conversation, and apologize my way out of whatever I don't understand. so the other day i'm in the mall, and theres this store there that has asian-y stuff, kind of a jumble. want to buy a stone dragon, a porcelain doll, some brass bells & a katana? this is your store. and the couple that runs it, i don't know in which nation they originated. this story's getting long....

anyway, the elderly man that was running the place became my first conversation in japanese. and at first i thought i did pretty well but the more i thought about it, the worse i started sounding. he was surprised i knew the word "bento" so i said i knew about Japanese stuff, and could speak a little.  "sukoshi wakarimasu ne" he said, and i said "so desu ne". and then when i left he said "domo arigato gozaimasu" and i said "domo arigato."  not much of a conversation i know.  and i just want to die of embarassment. i DEFINITELY should have used the gozaimasu and i have no idea why i didn't, especially with him being older and a stranger. i'm an idiot. i also think i should have been a little bit forward and asked something like "anata wa Nihonjin desu ka?" and i didn't do that either. again: idiot. feeling stupid is one of the very worst things to me, and i just feel like the big dumb american who sucks at everything.

so my question to you is (if you read all of that boring rambling) how did you first conversation go, and can i overcome the shame of completely messing up my first one?