being mistaken as asian

It seems to be happening a lot lately. The whole, "I'm gonna assume you're Japanese and then talk to you in Japanese" deal. I'm flattered, sure, but if you could speak in english first that would be much appreciated. Maybe its the hair or maybe the glasses, I don't know. In any case, I guess I can take it as a compliment, and hopefully I can learn enough to answer back eventually!

Example: walking back from my train station to Ontakesan dorms, a black Nissan GT-R is parked outside the local barbershop in the area. Seeing as the car is quite out of place in such a suburban setting, I decided to take pictures. Soon enough, one of the barbers goes to take a look at the car, turns to me, and says some friendly phrase with a chuckle and a smile on his face. Of course, with me being mr. awkward, I just smile back with a "heh."

Then, an older woman carrying a couple bags of groceries comes up to me, points at the car, and starts small talk. I assume she doesn't know what the car is, so I respond by saying "Skyrrine G-T-Ruuu." Apparently, I said something right, so she keeps talking. At this point, I shrug my shoulders, smile, and say "hai." She chuckles and bids me good night.

A funny experience overall. Here's a picture of the beautiful, beautiful piece of machinery outside of the barbershop: