Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Please do not spam at the top level. If you have a lot to post each day, try and post them all together in one top level comment
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Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
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Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
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If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evoloving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Yes, I'm a Japanfag. There are a couple others on here too, but I forget their usernames. (One has "Nihon" in his username.) Not a weeb though. People don't seem to understand most weebs never make to Japan. Those who do just visit, and even fewer are the ones who can land a job here. Of those, they probably don't last more than a year. They become disillusioned that Japan is not as depicted through filters of anime, manga, and video games.
In the box of J-snacks I sent to my daughter's pen pal, I enclosed a note to the girl's mom in which I asked her not to feel compelled to reciprocate. Unfortunately, the girl's grandfather blabbed about the box we sent even though I told him I wanted it to be a surprise. So after work I tried some Cheez-Its. My wife had a few. My daughter had one. I had a few handfuls, but I ended up tossing the bag out. It's probably soaked in glyphosate anyway.
My friend gave me some dark chocolate strawberry Kit Kats in November. I still have some. It's alright. Maybe better than regular ones. Here in Japan there are so many flavors. Even wasabi flavor Kit Kat. I can't say it is as disgusting as it sounds. It's edible, but.. .WHY? Dumb idea. That's Japan for you.
I hated Twinkies even when I was a kid. I never cared for those. Any Hostess. It's all crap. I used to enjoy Chips Ahoy and other pre-packaged cookies and those frosted animal cookies, but I just can't tolerate them anymore. It's been like that for a long while.
I used to think that Japanese who vistied America were just being picky and snobby for hating American cakes. Now I completely agree with them. Just tons of sugar and fake coloring. You can buy that crap at Costco in Japan, but it's pretty niche. Can't find that anywhere else. Now I do think that the Betty Crocker cake mixes and canned frostings are pretty good. I haven't had that in 15 years though, so I might not think the same anymore. I dunno. Regardless, the longer I live in Japan, the more intolerant I become of American snacks. You just get used to the better ingredients, less sugar, etc.
We can find Doritos in Japan (no Cool Ranch though) as well as Pringles. There is a Japanese ripoff of Pringles called Chip Star that is better, I think.
The stuff I really miss from America are the non-snacks stuff. NY style pizza and Buffalo wings, chimichongas smothered in guacamole and sour cream, and all that sort of stuff. I'm from Phoenix and there's an awesome Mexican/Chinese/Jamaican fusion chain called Chino Bandito that is FAWESOME. I really miss that place. Their menu is great. Sweet & sour pork with jerk fried rice burrito. That place is legendary and was featured on Food Network. Oh, and sopapillas. Damn, I could plow through half a box of those. Good ribeye steak. New England style fish & chips with fried clams and tartar sauce. That's most all I can think of at the moment. There are Mexican restaurants in Tokyo, namely El Torido, but it's just not the same. I miss the Arizonan/New Mexican-style stuff.