My Japanese is just good enough to get me in trouble. I can ask questions but never quite understand the answers. I was on a train from Nagoya to Ise, a tourist area with a national shrine out in the country. I kept fearing I was on the wrong train, it was getting dark and starting to rain. The train was full of commuters heading home but no one would even make eye contact with this strange foreigner so that I could start to ask for assistance. I spotted an elderly lady a few rows ahead. I approached holding my map and saying Obasan, wa doko deska- Grandmother, where is it? Well in half a New York minute she had several people gathered translating and assuring me my stop was coming soon. Its a good insider tip, don't forget it.
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