Of all the experiences I've had in Japan, there's one that continues to live rent free in my head.
It was after landing at Narita airport. As I was leaving the plane, the Japanese stewardesses were saying thank you to everyone. As I was approaching them, they said thank you to me in English.
I replied with arigatou gozaimasu, and spoken a bit of Japanese to them. They were quite surprised, and they were smiling.
I didn't think much of it, until I caught the last monorail to the terminal. It was the one with the cabin crew. As I was standing there, I noticed two of the stewardesses looking in my direction. I played it cool, and focused on my mobile.
As I left the monorail, the two stewardesses quietly came up to me. I had another quick chat with them in Japanese, which went over pretty well.
Not a bad start to the trip, if I say so myself.
by Milhouse_20XX