Get to know your fellow board members....

[amyzzz]

I'm going to steal Ivy's question since she's not around --

JClemy, tell us about the one that got away.

[Pixiessp]

I'm going to steal Ivy's question since she's not around --

JClemy, tell us about the one that got away.

Just like you did with mine last week. When is it going to end, Amy?

[amyzzz]

I'm sorry -- I'm bad at asking questions.

[JClemy]

Do you or your parents ever regret that you were an only child? What's the upside and the downside of being the only one?

I know my parents are happy about me being the only one. They are parents but they enjoy doing a lot of fun things. I think they feel that if they had more kids they would have to act older. My mom has always said that she will never get a minivan because it makes her feel old.

I've always had friends with little brothers/sisters so I've gotten most of the experience of having siblings without having to share with them. I haven't ever really missed having a brother or sister but that could be because I've never had one. With great friends I've always loved having close friends instead. Like a sibling you can choose.

オルジ-ですか?

I guess that would be it. Probably more like オルジ-おねがいします Orgy please!

I'm going to steal Ivy's question since she's not around --

JClemy, tell us about the one that got away.

I'm actually glad that the one that got away got away. I dated her off and on for quite a while. It wasn't the greatest relationship. In our original go of it I was neglectful and didn't really put much into it. I had just turned 18(legal drinking age) and she was only 17 so I was much more interested in drinking and partying. The second real go of it I think it was just too late. It was on and off for about a year with each of us actually caring about the other at different points but never at the same time.

I think the failure of that relationship actually helped me with making a move on my current fiance. I started hanging out with my fiance while I was still dating the other girl and things were going downhill. Nothing happened but I realized that I was having more fun and enjoying myself with another girl it probably wasn't going to work.

She used to actually call me whenever she had guy troubles and my fiance would get mad because she thought she was trying to get me back. She might have been but that's all in the past now.

[gaypalmsprings]

What is the best part about eating fish eyes?

[gaypalmsprings]

Although this may be Chinese, do you know what it translates to?

[JClemy]

What is the best part about eating fish eyes?

Well it's the most interesting thing I think I've put into my mouth. I think the best part about eating it was the shock value. It was actually pretty tasteless.

I tend to like to try as many different foods as I can. I managed to try pigs ear which was good.

Although this may be Chinese, do you know what it translates to?

I believe that is the Kanji symbol for dog. It translates into either language. Most Japanese characters and Chinese characters are pretty similar.

[algunz]

If you could travel anywhere in the world and live for five years (money is of no concern), where would you go?

[JClemy]

If you could travel anywhere in the world and live for five years (money is of no concern), where would you go?

That's tough.(I usually ask this. I'm mean).

I think if I could travel around I would spend the time travelling around southeast Asia.

If I had to stay in one place and money was no object I would move to Las Vegas. I have been there 6 times and I still feel like there are things I'm missing out on. I feel like with money being no object I could stay there for 5 years enjoying life and getting bored of Vegas. I don't know what it is about the city but I just love going there. The thing with Vegas is that I would be close to California for concerts and shows. Also there are always shows in Vegas.

I'm sure anywhere would lose it's appeal at some point once the novelty wore off. Being away for a year I realize that the place I'm happiest is probably at home back in Calgary but I would definitely make a go of it in Vegas.

[BROKENDOLL]

Cheers, Cubrocker for sharing with us!
Guess I better go grab my chopsticks for this next round!
JClemy,
You've been teaching English in Japan for a year. To whom? Young students, highschool, or adults? I think you mentioned that you weren't fluent in Japanese, so I must ask how this deal works...I'm sure it's quite a challenge for both parties. Do your students know some English, or do you all spend alot of time using the universal language of smiling alot and pointing at things???

And, with a year of experiencing the Japanese lifestyle under your belt, tell me...Are you chopstick friendly? (I figure if you've gone so far as to eat fish eyes, (*gag*) then I'd assume you've mastered the sticks...)How about the tradition of removing your shoes before entering your home? If I popped in for a visit, would I be expected to remove mine? And, on a related note...Describe your domicile/ living quarters for us...

[JClemy]

Cheers, Cubrocker for sharing with us!
Guess I better go grab my chopsticks for this next round!
JClemy,
You've been teaching English in Japan for a year. To whom? Young students, highschool, or adults? I think you mentioned that you weren't fluent in Japanese, so I must ask how this deal works...I'm sure it's quite a challenge for both parties. Do your students know some English, or do you all spend alot of time using the universal language of smiling alot and pointing at things???

I teach a wide range of students. I teach every friday at a Kindergarten in town(Yochien is kindergarten in Japanese). In the morning we basically play with kids and talk to them(even though they don't understand us). In the Afternoons we teach smaller classes.

I Teach 3 classes for the City Hall which is mostly older ladies and a few retired gentlemen. I teach a lot of private students as well. I teach from elementary level to adult conversation classes. It's been great.

My students pretty much all know a little bit of English. I have a few kids that really don't know much English at all but that makes it fun. Smiling, pointing, repeating and using dictionaries or the tiny bit of Japanese I know is how we get through.

I'm slowly learning more and more. I know lots of animal names.

And, with a year of experiencing the Japanese lifestyle under your belt, tell me...Are you chopstick friendly? (I figure if you've gone so far as to eat fish eyes, (*gag*) then I'd assume you've mastered the sticks...)How about the tradition of removing your shoes before entering your home? If I popped in for a visit, would I be expected to remove mine? And, on a related note...Describe your domicile/ living quarters for us...

I was pretty good at using chopsticks before I came to Japan. People are so shocked when we tell them that we can use chopsticks and when they see us using them. The response is usually a shocked "Can you use chopsticks!" to which my reply tends to be "yea can you use a fork?".

When you get into someones home your remove your shoes in the entryway. It's called a Genkan(I probably spelt that wrong). You take off the shoes when you get in and leave them pointing out towards the door ready to go. It's often like that in the bar too. You remove your shoes when you get in and walk around in bare feet or in socks. I find in Canada most people remove their shoes when they come into a house so it wasn't anything new for us.

Our apartment here has a pretty good size. Here is a video done by one of the teachers that taught the year before us.

[algunz]

What do you want to do with your life? Do you want to continue with teaching?

[JClemy]

What do you want to do with your life? Do you want to continue with teaching?

I am planning on going back to school next year for my Education degree. I think I will be going to UBC in Vancouver. That is the plan right now. The timing will be really good too. We'll hopefully be in Vancouver for the Olympics which will be great. I've really discovered that I enjoy teaching during my year in Japan.

I think I will probably be teaching elementary school in Canada most likely. I prefer teaching younger kids in North America and I really enjoy it here too.

[algunz]

You'll be an administrator in five years.

[gaypalmsprings]

Although this may be Chinese, do you know what it translates to?

You were close. It means doggy style.

[gaypalmsprings]

Is Panda Express popular in Japan?

[algunz]

Tell us about the first and/or best time you rode a bicycle.

[aphrael]

"Best" would be ironic for this story, I think, but I've been in two bicycle accidents in my day; one involving an eighteen-wheel truck (in which I was totally unharmed), and one involving a hit-and-run at night that dislocated my wrist and cost me more than $20,000 in ER and surgery bills.

I don't ride bicycles on public streets any more, because I've been rendered a coward.

[herro kitty]

Are you good at Dance Dance Revolution?

Can you spot the Hokkaido accent?

What's more expensive: eating at a restaurant or buying groceries (in Japan)?

Do you watch anime???

[BROKENDOLL]

JClemy, obviously, you missed Coachella last year due to being there in Japan, but didn't you get to go to Fuji Rock? If so, how different is that festival from Coachella? If not, what shows have you seen while there? What would you say is the predominant style of music throughout Japan? And, do the Japanese like to party like us Americans and Canooks, or is that a serious no-no over there?

[JClemy]

Is Panda Express popular in Japan?

Man I wish it was. I like North American Japanese food so much more than I like real Japanese food. The food here is really bland for the most part. You can get some delicious food for sure(The sushi is awesome!) but most of the time it's just simply soy sauce flavors. My students tell me they went out for delicious dinners and they went for salt flavored things. I would kill for some variety in potato chips that isn't shrimp or consume flavor. I don't like my snack foods to be fishy.

The meat at Panda Express is also probably better than the stuff here. I say that because Japanese meat is crazy fatty. We would send back most of the stuff you get here because it's more fat than meat. I'm sure a Japanese person would say that about our meat though.

Tell us about the first and/or best time you rode a bicycle.

I don't remember the first time. I remember the first time riding a bike here and it was a lot of fun. I hadn't ridden a bike in years and so it was a lot of fun to ride one again. I am constantly afraid of getting hit by cars on the Japanese roads though.

I think one of the best bike rides though was last summer when I spent a day riding through Calgary along the river with my fiance and a friend. We went basically from one end of the city to the other on our bikes and stopped at a bunch of cool places along the way. We saw a lot of parts of the city you don't often see which was really cool.

Are you good at Dance Dance Revolution?

I'm ok. I'm not a star but I can hold my own. I have really good rhythm but I'm often not fast enough.

Can you spot the Hokkaido accent?

The Hokkaido accent is apparently pretty much the same as the Tokyo one. I think that's because most people from Hokkaido(basically all) came from Tokyo at one point. They even used to tall cheer for the Giants since they were all Tokyo citizens at one point. Now the best team is the Nippon Ham Fighters!

What's more expensive: eating at a restaurant or buying groceries (in Japan)?

Usually eating at a restaurant is more expensive. Like in North America it depends on where you go. You can get things like Soba and Udon for quite cheap but you can also pay a fortune for them. If you go to a regular Sushi restaurant you pay a fortune but at a conveyer belt Sushi restaurant you get almost the same quality for cheap. Fruit is quite expensive which really sucks.

One thing I was really surprised about was that rice is really expensive here. It's regulated by the government so they charge extra for it.

Do you watch anime???

The main anime I've come to enjoy are the Ghibli movies. My favorite character is Totoro(as you can see on my avatar) and I've gotten a collection of the characters in stuffed form. I plan on getting a totally non manly Totoro wallet or coin purse. I'm going to watch a few of the more popular animes when I get a chance.

JClemy, obviously, you missed Coachella last year due to being there in Japan, but didn't you get to go to Fuji Rock? If so, how different is that festival from Coachella? If not, what shows have you seen while there? What would you say is the predominant style of music throughout Japan? And, do the Japanese like to party like us Americans and Canooks, or is that a serious no-no over there?

I did get to go to Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic.

Fuji Rock has sort of the same spirit as Coachella but it's no where near as good as Coachella. Apparently it rains every year and this year was no exception. It was miserable for the first day. I would have killed for the heat of Coachella.

Summer Sonic was much more like a whole bunch of concerts in a whole bunch of different spots that all happened to be close to each other. I enjoyed it though.

I've only been to those two shows here in Japan. It's amazing to see the Japanese let loose. The first night of Fuji watching the Japanese people dance and sing and have fun was strange. I've since learned that there is a different type of Japanese person that I really haven't met too much. It was amazing to see this new type of Japanese person.

The most common music I've noticed is pop. J pop. Some of it is really terrible but some is kinda fun. Mostly terrible. I'm amazed at how well the Japanese can do any type of music. We got a chance to see a Japanese reggae singer at Summer Sonic on the beach. Her name was Lecca and she was great. The Japanese tend to embrace something and when they do it they do it well. In North America we have the punks and all different groups but in Japan they do it to the extreme. It's great.

The Japanese can party hard. They don't usually seem to do quite as stupid of things that we do but they drink hard. You go to Karaoke and get a two hour all you can drink for 2200 yen so basically $22. I went last weekend and all you can drink beers can be dangerous. Combine all you can drink beers with singing and you've got a pretty wild combination.

[algunz]

Did you and will you return to working at Barnes and Noble?

[JClemy]

Did you and will you return to working at Barnes and Noble?

It was Chapters since it's Canadian but basically the same thing. I don't think I will go back. Getting a super discount on books and reading basically every single magazine I was interested was really cool but all in all I'm not a big fan of working in the book industry.

[Pixiessp]

JClemy,
Describe Japanese beers please. Which ones are your favorites?
Which ones suck? Which are the most popular?


Also, I know American celebrities sometimes do TV commercials overseas.
Have you seen any that stand out as either silly or just plain stupid?

[Cdubby]

whens the last time you really enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

[JClemy]

JClemy,
Describe Japanese beers please. Which ones are your favorites?
Which ones suck? Which are the most popular?


Also, I know American celebrities sometimes do TV commercials overseas.
Have you seen any that stand out as either silly or just plain stupid?

Japanese beers are all pretty much the same. Some of the local brews are tasty. Otaru has a brewery that has some really good beers. They have a light, a dark and a white. All of them are really good.

I usually just go for a Sapporo or an Asahi but when you're our drinking in Japan you really don't get a choice. You drink what they have available at the bar. It's not like in North America where they give you a choice. Most of the time I don't even know what kind of beer I'm drinking. You just say Nama Beeru and you get a draft beer.

I have only tasted one that was terrible and it was a Kirin Ginger beer. It was terrible and I didn't even finish it. They have also made a 0.00% beer here and claimed it tasted like regular beer. It doesn't. It tastes like non alchoholic beer. Not so good.

I've seen Brad Pitt, Beyonce and a bunch of other celebrities shilling stuff here. Most of the ads are pretty normal. The best one I've seen though it Tommy Lee Jones in a Boss coffee ad. He is a miner and the cave blasts shut so he uses his powers and the power of Boss Coffee to free himself and the miners. Here are pretty much all the commercials: http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2770

They apparently think he is an alien in this country.

whens the last time you really enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

Long time ago. I have peanut butter I bought from costco but the bread is so thick I don't think the sandwich would be all that good.

[cubrocker]

how often to you eat at the すしや? isnt it much more expensive to eat it regularly in japan than it is in the us/canada? and isnt it much different tasting there?

and have you seen this wonderful video that is of course absolutely true in every sense?

[Pixiessp]

how often to you eat at the すしや? isnt it much more expensive to eat it regularly in japan than it is in the us/canada? and isnt it much different tasting there?

and have you seen this wonderful video that is of course absolutely true in every sense?

Ha ha Ha!! very enjoyable.

[JClemy]

how often to you eat at the すしや? isnt it much more expensive to eat it regularly in japan than it is in the us/canada? and isnt it much different tasting there?

and have you seen this wonderful video that is of course absolutely true in every sense?

That video is awesome. Having lived here I think it was even funnier in that near the start I wasn't sure if it was real and taken to the extreme or not. It actually seemed almost reasonable if made by someone who had seen the traditional sushi place and didn't quite understand.

Yea, that's Japan.

Sushi is more expensive if you go to a traditional place like that. You order from the chef and your expected to follow special rules. I don't often go to those places because they are so expensive. I usually go to a conveyor belt sushi place that is super delicious. The Sushi is much better here than what I've tasted in North America. That said I've tasted a bunch of fish I probably wouldn't have had in Canada but I always go back to my favorite the Octopus.

[fiyahhh!]

JClemy,
please take us on a journey through your musical past. What kind of phases did you go through?