Going to LA is my first foreign trip.
My parents were very conservative, so I had to lie about going to LA (even though I was 19 years old).
I told them I was going to travel in the suburbs of Tokyo for a week. (I even phoned them from Santa Monica beach, saying "I'm in Tokyo!"
I made quite a few friends right after I got to a hostel, but my English was terrible.
In the elevator of the hostel, some guy said to me "How are you?"
and I answered
"I'm nineteen."
"No, no, no, I said How-Are-You?"
A tall middle-aged white man asking a young innocent looking Asian boy how old he is might lead to a terrible misunderstanding.
When I got back home, my father looked at my tanned skin and joked "Did you go to Hawaii or something?" I just gave him a fake laugh, thinking "close one..."
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