Staring

I was stared at by a man at the grocery store today. I said something to him in Japanese and he just said that he didn't speak any English. Maybe I misspoke, but I was saying really simple stuff, so I highly doubt it. Anyways, he didn't take his eyes off me for the entire time I was packing my bike with groceries, mailed a letter, and biked halfway down the street. Based on what he said, he was surprised to see me and even more surprised to hear me speaking Japanese. He even took a little step back when I spoke something he understood.

I thought I would have these kind of experiences when I first got here because I had heard so many stories about stuff like that happening to others. However it hasn't really happened to me other than confused little babies staring at me. So I was really caught off-guard when this happened. I've gotten double-takes and whatnot, but this was the first blatant, continuous staring episode.