So I'm on my way to the station after having finished classes in Odawara (thankfully I was only substituting, it was quite a rowdy bunch of kids), when suddenly a boy calls out "hello" to me as we pass each other. I should mention that being greeted (in English) by strangers isn't such a rare occurence for foreigners in Japan, especially out here in the sticks where "gaijin" like myself are few and far between. I, having gotten used to this phenomenon, merely returned the greeting and kept walking. I soon forgot about the boy, got on the train and started sending mails with my cellphone, when out of the blue the same boy appears right next to me. "Eigo dekinai" he says, meaning "I can't speak English". I jokingly reply "neither can I", but maybe I'd been better off just ignoring him, since he apparently takes this as an invitation to initiate conversation. The boy, probably around 12 years old or so (although I'm no good at guessing people's age so I might be completely off), is obviously not your average Japanese kid and there's something about the way he moves and talks that makes me slightly uncomfortable as he stands beside my seat speaking loudly in Japanese. For some reason I have to repeat everything I say, and the whole situation is sort of embarassing since you're really supposed to be kinda quiet on the train, not speak on the phone etc. (maybe I really am turning Japanese, to have this feeling). He starts asking about my cellphone and wants me to play the built-in dialtones (which are so loud that I obviously can't comply, see above) and at one point even takes the phone out of my hands and starts playing around with it. Halfway through the conversation (if you can call it that) he suddenly asks: "Do you understand Japanese?", regardless that we've been speaking in Japanese the whole time! Eventually we get to his stop though, and he asks me when I'll be in Odawara next time, to which I reply that I can't say for sure (which is true). However, he then continues to ask for my phonenumber, at which point I have to tell him to forget it (of course it comes out much more polite in Japanese) and he finally gets off the train and let's me return to my e-mailing and the unpleasant feeling that everyone on the train is looking at me.