Hello everyone!
So recently I started working at a fairly small airport where we mainly send and receive local passengers. Pretty much no one except for me speaks English, let alone any other language. I was always told foreign language wasn't needed much there as pretty much no one talked foreign language (or they thought) and they could get the job done with basic sentences if need be.
Anyway, yesterday I was helping a gentleman at a kiosk for his check-in. He was local and his first flight was domestic but when I saw his transfer flight I got goosebumps. He was headed for Japan! I immediately got excited, said I wanted to visit Japan one day etc. and he told me about how he started a business there in Japan and such and at the end of our conversation I bowed slightly and said "気をつけてください" and he was so surprised at first and that's when I got my “日本語上手” from him 😀
Afterwards I tried to talk further, as much as I could saying things like "4月から日本語を勉強しています。” and tried to put everything I learned from Genki I in action. At the end of that small exchange, he actually gave me his number and took mine.
I am still living the high of it right now. I never thought I could come across someone from my country, who lives in Japan, give me a “日本語上手” but such is life! Now I am even more motivated to keep on going! Thanks for listening to my little experience and have a great day!
by Finnbhennach