cultural exchange in kyoto

walking down a major avenue in kyoto today, i was stopped by an intense, 50ish japanese man. he wasn:t rude or aggressive but nor did he seem particularly friendly. we had the following conversation in a very terse, businesslike manner- "do you speak english?" "yes" "where are you from?" "the united states" "where?" "california" "thank you for speaking" (bows, returns to street corner)