[Coda]

I went to a ramen shop for dinner tonight and they brought me the wrong meal. The little old Japanese woman I spoke to was very apologetic about it. I offered to buy the extra meal and eat it myself. She kept wanting to make sure I was sure, but I said I'd give the other meal to my wife.

Anyway, when she brought me the other meal and I paid for it, she of course thanked me for my patronage by saying 「ありがとうございます」(thank you); I replied with 「ありがとうございます」as well. She just smiled at me, probably thinking I just happened to know the one phrase, but then I said 「本当にすみません」(I'm very sorry) and she stared at me for a moment before saying (very fast) 「日本語をしゃべてる？」("You can speak Japanese?") as well as some more that I understood but can't remember because she was talking too fast. I could only reply 「んん、うん、学生だけ」(Mm, yeah, but I'm just a student).

She laughed and thanked me again, and I left with my food, but that's apparently what happens when you look American but speak Japanese.