Hello again, this time from the Old Country in Koblenz, Germany! We’re here for Animagic, the largest anime convention in Europe (or so I am told), and we’re having loads of fun. If you’re in the neighborhood, we hope you will drop in and see us before the convention is over.
But first, a note about the site. The J-List site has been moved to its new server, and there are a couple of glitches. Currently, I am not sure if images are displaying normally, as many images seem to be not coming up (it could be something to do with my connection from Germany). Also, unfortunately, new customers are not able to check out currently (they get an error 1001), although existing customers should be able to check out normally. Rest assured that we’re hard at work on both problems and should have them solved very soon.
This is our first real trip to Germany (although I’d driven through before), and we’re learning a lot about the country, as we soak up the differences between Germany and Japan and the U.S. They don’t put syrup on their waffles here, and of course you never get ice in your drink when you order it. They have the greatest cottege cheese, and so many beautiful castles it’s almost hard to believe it. I’ve been surprised at all the pretty dogs I see being walked around town, which may explain why our “The Dog” Japanese plush toys are popular in Germany. As in my previous trips to Europe, I’m mildly surprised to really see almost no advertisements for Japanese companies or general Japanese commercial presence — Korean companies seem to be much more active here. And everywhere you go, there are Nestle products!
The con is a great one. There are lots of good fans from all around Europe, gathering to share in their common enjoyment of Japanese popular culture. My wife is especially impressed with the ability of Germans to communicate in English, which is very convenience for us since my German all comes from “Hogan’s Heroes” and “Die Hard.” My wife is somewhat ashamed at the Japanese education system that has students learn 6 years of English (if they graduate from high school) or 10 years (if they go all the way through college) but usually doesn’t give them any real competence in English.
The J-List site has been updated, thanks to Tomo and Yasu and Mayumi in Japan, with a large number of new products, including DVDs, magazines, photobooks, toys and other items, and much more — about 50-60 new items posted. We certainly hope you will stop by and check out the new items! If there are any problems with the site, either with images displaying or check out problems of any kind, please email [email protected] about them and we’ll take care of them right away.
Well, that’s all for now. We’ll talk to you after the convention!
