I do remember feeling so happy to see the drop slot for returning videos so I didn't have to go in and see that cashier guy! The fact that the window was above the slot didn't make me happy though. That dude really would look through it at me when I dropped my movies in. What did he think? I forgot to put the DVDs back into their boxes? If I wasn't so nice, I would have made angry faces at him!
I'm sure you're thinking that J needs to take a long hard look at his relationship and his feelings for his girlfriend. I would agree! You guys have been giving great comments and observations lately. Thank you!
Shout out to the FORUMS and my wonderful FACEBOOK PAGE and my ramblings on TWITTER! Join in!
Isn't it interesting how sometimes you don't know what you're missing until someone comes along to remind you? Of course, there's much more to a successful relationship than just enjoying hobbies together but it looks to me like J's girlfriend doesn't even want to try to enjoy his. There will be a lot going on with J in the near future so I hope you'll continue reading to join in on the adventure! If this topic excites you, start a conversation in the FORUMS. Thank you to those fans that have already made comments! I love to hear from you!
If any of you out there are teaching in Japan or have in the past, there should be at least one thing in this comic strip that you can relate to! I was always surprised at all of the colorful characters that end up teaching there. It can be a wild experience or even a negative one like Nelly's. ;)
Follow on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more goodness! Talk about this and more in the FORUMS. Arigato!
For the new readers out there, let me give a shout out to my FACEBOOK Fan Page! Please LIKE it and enjoy it! If you love TWITTER like I do, please follow me and start up a conversation! You can also reply and start conversations on this site in the FORUMS. Is that enough pluggin' for you?
I hope I don't seem as lonely as Karl with all this social networking love I'm begging for! It is nice to hear from my fans and interact though. Even though Karl is isolated enough to talk to a tanuki statue, at least he has some friends that are looking out for him! Thanks for reading!
I still think it would be pretty hard to make okonomiyaki taste bad. Maybe that's because I love it so much! Don't let this comic strip turn you away from trying some. It's delicious! Just don't eat any of Sato sensei's...
Do you have any fun okonomiyaki stories? You can talk about them in the FORUMS! Remember, you guys can start your own topics and lead the discussions. Hope to hear from you!
If you haven't tried real Japanese okonomiyaki, you should. It looks a bit odd but it tastes really good. If you go to a restaurant, they cook it on a grill in front of you. I'll give a few more details in the next comic strip but I think it's pretty tough to make it taste bad. Looks like Sato sensei isn't the best cook and we're understanding more about why her in-laws get on her nerves! In other NEWS, I'm on the list of great webcomics on COMICMIX.COM where you can go and vote for me. Please head over there and put in a vote. The list is pretty long but I'm down near the bottom. It's only about popularity but it would be good to see my fans supporting the comic. Thanks guys!
I know it should be easy to open one of those plastic grocery bags but it's always a challenge for me. I just want to lick my fingers but I know that's gross! So, I try to be a nice clean black man and open it with my dry fingers and I can never do it. This really happened in a grocery store in Japan when I was trying to get the bag open. A nice lady was bagging next to me and made it very obvious that she was patting her fingers on the wet sponge. Thanks to her, I learned very quickly about another great tool for convenience in Japan. The wet sponge! Don't forget to talk about stuff like this in the FORUMS! Thank you.
Karl really should have known that Miki would say no to that! I guess that's why he had to put on the puppy dog eyes and beg. It's good language practice to watch Japanese tv and movies but Anime can get tricky. There's so much "anime language" that you don't know if real people actually use all of the words or just the characters in Japanese animation. Be careful studying Japanese from anime! Japanese people might chuckle at you if you use a phrase from anime that normal people would never. Trust me, I know...
Hey guys, this is my 200th comic strip! Woo Hoo! I'm so tired. Wait a minute, I never get tired of drawing FC&S comics for you! Especially, comics like today's with the video store guy. This guy in real life really must have had it out for me. Each time I went I was hoping he wouldn't be there. Of course, he always was and he was always the one to ring me up at the counter. Then, he would proceed to tell me all sorts of things in Japanese that I did not understand! He had to know that I didn't get any of what he was talking about! Oh yeah, shout out to the FORUMS! Go there, talk, discuss, enjoy.
This is another comic strip that is based on real life events. I don't remember being as scared as Karl to get a membership at the local video store but I'll never forget the guy working there. He looked similar to the one in the comic with the glasses and stoic stare. He helped me to get my membership card and tried to speak English. After, he refused to try English again! Not only that, he would go on and on about a bunch of stuff I couldn't understand! Most Japanese people would care that I didn't know what they were saying but this guy just kept on talking. I eventually just left the counter and started shopping because I was so frustrated. That's probably just what he wanted me to do. ;)
Are you yelling at Karl to get a backbone? I know it seems crazy for him to be so scared of such simple things but living in Japan takes courage. It's not easy to get right away. Confidence takes time! Really, it does! Karl seems to be going out and facing his fears though. Let's see if he will when it comes to movies.
Isn't it nice of the students to show such respect to their clueless American English teacher? I'm sure they didn't intend on being mean but they tried to be polite in the same way they would be in Japanese but I guess it didn't come out sounding so great. If you've had a similar grading experience, share it in the FORUMS.
Sato sensei seems to be asserting her dominance! By standing on a table? Well, it got Karl's attention. I remember how confusing it was for me to switch over to the Japanese way of using check marks to grade papers. It still confuses me that a check mark means the answer is wrong. If it's correct you circle it! I had to constantly remind myself of what I was doing while grading a quiz! Let's hope Karl can get it straight!
Happy Valentines Day! Looks like J is getting a little love today. I don't think it's true love though... The Otaku girls really need a reality check. I'm pretty sure J will be vanishing any second now. If he were in Japan, the girls would be giving him valentines gifts and candy. It still amazes me that women in Japan are the ones that give men gifts on Valentine's Day. I hope you all are enjoying this day even if you don't have a valentine! Don't forget to sign in and join the conversations in the FORUMS. I want to hear from you guys!
I have a feeling that Anime and Manga fans can have a warped view of what it's like in Japan. I know I did before living there! Unfortunately, I don't think these girls are going to hear anything negative about their beloved Japan! Are you an Otaku (anime and manga geek)? I started a new topic up in the FORUMS about it HERE. Come on by and chat a little.
Now that the Black Samurai has defeated the Oni we have learned more about the power of his sword. Clearly it can cut down a demon but it seems to carry a curse. The people of the village think that he will protect them even though the sword will attract more evil. Oh well, at least we have a nice set up for more stories in the future! What do you think will happen next? Talk about it in the FORUMS! Expect to get sick of me talking about the FORUMS page...
Want to talk about living in Japan? Would you like to share your stories and recommendations? Now you can right here on the FC&S website in our FORUMS! It's pretty easy to sign in via social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Let's get together and talk about all things Japan! The new FORUMS tab is at the top of the page or you can just go HERE. It will be nice to hear from my FC&S community!
The Thesaurus can be a wonderful tool to help you creatively express your frustrations verbally. Sato sensei loves using the English language so it's only natural that she would find more words for her challenging in-laws! Check out the links I moved from the LINKS page to the lower right of this main page. They're all my friends and quite talented, if I do say so myself, so check them out!
I remember when this one really happened. Actually, it was more like I couldn't remember the English word for in-laws at all! It was totally embarrassing! All of the teachers were so disappointed that I couldn't remember such a simple word in English. I had to go online and search for a word in my own language! It's pretty easy to forget certain English words while living in Japan because you never use them or hear them around you. Anyone out there have a similar situation that made them look like the incompetent native English speaker?
Fried Chicken and Sushi is a Blog and humorous comic strip about living in Japan and Japanese pop-culture.
© copyright 2010 - Khalid Birdsong All Rights Reserved.
