How did Iso get a job in Japan?

[isobelle]

Time for another ‘non-game-related’ post on part, may God have mercy on my soul. My video card is working out better than I made out last week, and there isn’t anything horribly exciting happening in MMO news (besides druids getting nerfed LOLz), so I thought I’d address a different topic. I receive two types of private messages here at NotAddicted. The first is from people mystified by the girls in my avatar, and wondering who they are, and the second is from people asking how I ended up teaching in the public school system of Japan.

The first question is easily answered by reading the intial reply I made a while ago (scroll down to reply #25) after I first put my avatar up there. The second one I’ve answered in detail on more than one occasion, and it felt like I was pretty much writing an article unto itself, so there ya go.

It all started one sunny day in Oakland, California. I had been working for six years at a PDF conversion company. We would do things like take a legal company’s cabinets full of paper documents, scan them, OCR them, and then output them as swanky text searchable PDFs on a CD-ROM. These companies were amazed we could fit a whole filing cabinet on one CD, and we actually had a pretty good business model going.

I came on as lowly production grunt, proofreading what the computer ‘thought it saw’. It went something like this:

1)Open document.
2)No, that word is not ‘rnornarit’, it’s ‘moment’.
3)Hit Tab.
4)Go to step 2; repeat 8 billion times.

The work was boring, but the company recognized that, and actually paid us a pretty good wage considering they could have just shipped the documents off to Korea to be done for 2 cents an hour (more on that later). One day, the IT Guy, John, decided he had had enough of this little company, and wanted to go work for the local linux company that had its American office based in Oakland (SuSE). John left, and the management freaked out. ZOMGWhat will we do? I donned my cape of [+7 Computer Haxxor Skillz], and waltzed into the CEO’s office at the choice moment to ask the production manager a question concerning one of the scanners. I also happened to drop in an oh-so-offhand way that “Oh, what’s that? John’s leaving? You need someone to manage the workstations? Well, hell… I could do that… “

I took over the IT duties, and became the new IT Manager. I managed myself. I was the only IT employee. Lolz.

Anyway, that’s just buildup… the big factor in getting to Japan was when we began to run out of work. Anyone buying a scanner was starting to get copies of OmniScan, and people began to wonder why they should be paying us when they could just do the OCRing themselves. We gently reminded them that they were lawyers, and not people that sit at scanners for 8 hours a day. They realized there were people in the Philippines that could do that for pennies a day. We were doomed.

With my severance pay and a nice ‘thanks for all your hard work’ bonus, I was faced with a difficult situation. I could drink beer and play Warcraft all day long, or I could go on vacation somewhere. The money was going to be gone soon, and in the end I wouldn’t have anything to show for it either way. I decided on the latter, because I’m just crazy like that.

I had a friend that was living in Japan, in a place called Okayama, teaching in the public school system. He was a JET, which is a program where people just coming out of college have this opportunity to go teach abroad (...in Japan). It’s like some governmental program for the Exchange of Foreign Cultures… it’s all very flutey sounding, and apparently the JETs love to get together and be… uhhh... foreign… together, and drink and be loud and generally behave like asses. If you’re taking notes, being a JET is the easiest way to get over and do the whole thing. They have orientation, they give little seminars before you leave, they set you up with an apartment, they offer culture shock counseling for once you get here. It’s all very ‘package deal’ oriented. BUT! You need to be just coming out of college to be a part of it.

I wasn’t just coming out of college.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. I came over to visit my friend. It was a two week vacation, and I had already been studying Japanese in a very lame city college class that was full of people that either ‘thought Naruto was rad’, ‘wanted to play PS2 import games’, or ‘couldn’t handle Spanish’. The level of enthusiasm in the class was pathetic. People would actually raise their hand in class and try to correct the teacher, a native Japanese woman, on proper grammar.

“Sumimasen, Sensei! Demo… I was watching this one fan sub of Ruroni Kenshin, and I think you’re wrong, because this one time Sagala was like…” RGARSFGHGAGSFGSG—stop it! Shut UP! FOR FUCK'S SAKE, LISTEN TO THE WOMAN. SHE CAN HARDLY SPEAK ENGLISH; I THINK SHE KNOWS HER JAPANESE!

Where was I? Ah…! I came to Japan on a two-week visit. The first two days I didn’t even eat, because I was too weirded out to even talk to anyone to order any food. I just drank can coffee and smoked cigarettes. I eventually got hungry and began with slow, easy Japanese to get warmed up. I began just walking around the streets asking someone every block or so what time it was, or directions to somewhere I already knew the location of. People in Japan are super nice. People say this all the time, but you really just have to be here to believe it. It’s not like someone in San Francisco won’t give you directions, but there’s that initial instant when you approach someone on the street in America and begin to talk to them... their first instinct is that you want to ask them for money, or are generally just fucking with them in some way. They’re on their defense immediately. That isn’t the case in Japan. You hesitantly approach someone, and you immediately have his or her undivided attention. It’s like… 99.9% of Japan is Japanese people… they’re kind of like ‘all on the same team’ already. They want to help you out, and get you on your way. Bonus points if you’re a foreigner, because they can practice their English with you.

After 3 days in Tokyo and 2 in Hiroshima, I met up with my friend in Okayama. We went drinking with some friends of his, both Japanese locals and other teachers that he had met while here. We went to some crazy ass huge Japanese empty home thing. Apparently companies can rent it out if they need to have a company outing or whatever bonding thing they do. We rented it out. 30 dollars for one night. This place was fucking enormous. Tatami as far as the eye could see. We drank there. Played poker. Set off fireworks. It was ridiculous. Japan is wacky like that. Everyone there kept stressing the point that if teaching over here was anything I wanted to do, it really wasn’t that hard to pull off. It always sounds really hard, but it isn’t. You just sell everything, and come to Japan. There isn’t even a third step!

The next day everyone left, and I got a bunch of email addresses from some of the Japanese locals that wanted friends in America or whatever to write letters and emails to. One of those people is now my fiancée. Did I mention Japan is wacky like that?

I stayed in Okayama another day or so, then just rode the train all over Japan and just kind of soaked it up. When I travel, I don’t go to museums, and I don’t like going on tours. This usually is discovered after we arrive, much to the dismay of whoever travels with me. You should have seen my ex in Italy. She was pissed. I want to go to other places to see how other people LIVE. Not to see some fucking painting that some dead guy made. I just would ride the Shinkansen (bullet train) and get off after an hour or two, wherever I happened to be. Maybe it would be getting near dark, or maybe I just thought the town had a cool sounding name. I’d drag my suitcase around, find a hotel, check in, then just sit out front and smoke cigarettes; wondering what it would be like to live here.

In the end, I made up my mind that I wanted to try it. I even cut my vacation short by a few days to save money for the eventual flight back out here. I got home, broke the news to everyone, and began looking for work.

Here comes Point Number Two, for those keeping track: Knowing anyone in Japan is HUGE. The Japanese people love to get friends of friends hired somewhere. If you know anyone that works somewhere, and they can refer you into a position, you’re golden*. I began looking for work, while emailing my new friends in Japan telling them that I wanted to come back and work there. I found a few job offers online at a website that distributes ‘teacher wanted’ ads, but a lot of the jobs were in places I had never heard of, or were very far from Okayama. I wanted to be somewhat near to my new friends, because moving to a new country where you don’t know ANYBODY is probably not a good idea. In the end, my friend Mori (fiancée, now) told me of a job opening coming up with her friend Matt. Matt was going back to England, and he worked at an after school program called Sophia Zemi. A few awkward international telephone interviews later, I had the position lined up.

I sold my car, sold everything else, mailed my computer to Mori’s address in Japan (I’m an Addict, not a fool), and made arrangements for my parents to watch my cat until the paperwork was finished and she could come to Japan with me (my father brought her during his visit after a few months).

A Zemi is an afterschool kind of cram-lesson center. Kids study English in school, but then can go to a Zemi after school to have a leg up on the other kids. There are Math Zemis, English Zemis, Soccer Zemis… whatever. The hours sucked, but they gave me a car, and offered to help me find an apartment. In the meantime, I could stay with a Japanese family, or they could put me up at a hotel. Mori offered to let me stay at her place until I found an apartment, since it was relatively closeby to one of the locations I would be teaching at (there were 5). The hours kind of sucked. Modays I would drive for about 2 hours to teach for 4, then drive 2 hours back home. The lessons were from 6 to 10, so I could sleep in, but wouldn’t get home till midnight or so. Some of the other locations were nearby (30 min - 1 hour drive), but a lot of time was spent in the car just getting to the location.

This went on for 4 months (I never did actually move out of Mori’s place), then another friend of ours told us she was going back to Australia. She didn’t work at a Zemi, she taught in the Public School System (caps for emphasis). The board of education was scrambling to find a replacement. I was their man. I lived nearby (like ridiculously close, a 5 minute drive). I already had a teaching visa. I had experience (well, 4 months anyway). I took the job.

The Zemi was PISSED. When I started work for them, I signed a contract saying that I would be there for a year. By breaking contract, I had to pay a penalty fee of one month’s salary back to them. In addition, they wanted four months notice before I would be allowed to quit.

I asked “So, if I stay for four more months, then I won’t have to pay the penalty?” They said “No, you’ll still be penalized”. I said “Bye”. They flipped out. They called me constantly for like a week, alternating between begging me to stay, and screaming at me for quitting (usually in the same phone call). One time I just hung up on them, and they called back to call me a coward for hanging up. I made the mistake of telling them where I had new work, and they called the board of education telling them I was a horrible employee and that they were awful people for ‘headhunting’ me.

I tried to use logic, to no avail. By taking the new job, I would be a city employee. I would make more money, have medical benefits, it was a 5 minute drive, and 9-5 M-F. They didn’t care, and here’s why: Foreigners in japan are kind of hard to come by. It is this reason that if you come here, you will have work. You just will. The Zemi was pissed to lose me, but the BoE was just as thrilled to have found me. Don’t let it go to your head, but never forget that you have options. For all the bullshit they tried to pin on me, they kept refusing to accept that I was honoring my contract. By leaving early, they got a FREE MONTH of work from me. Fuck them. I did, LOL.

Anyway, I’ve been an employee of the school district for going on 2 years now. It’s good clean fun, and the kids are great. Some classes suck, and some of the kids are shits, but there are way more good days than bad days. I have a few kids that I absolutely adore, and they’re good enough to make a shitty class worth enduring. Plus I get rotated around the whole district… I spend one semester at one school, and then go the the next after 3 or 4 months. It’s a little jarring for some people, but I like it. The kids are always fresh, and you never really get stuck in a rut for too long. Even if you have a Japanese teacher that you can’t stand teaching with, you only see them once a week for 45 minutes, OH NOES.

At the school I’m at now, I have 2 of each grade; 1st through 6th. That comes to 12 classes each week, which amounts to a grand total of 9 hours spent actually doing lessons. Out of a 40 hour paid week. Another school I taught at had 3 of each class. Some school districts will just let you go home if you have no classes, but don’t count on it. They’re the exception to the rule. The Japanese revel in pretending to look busy. They have it down to a science. One of the reasons I love writing stuff like this for NotAddicted is because typing furiously in word for 2 hours looks very ‘productive’. I make my own teaching materials, but I have my next month worth of classes already prepped and planned… there’s a lot of downtime, but for the most part I just hide out in the English room and read forums or whatever. I've been at my current school for a full year, but only because the city just underwent some tri-city merger thing, and the BoE had bigger fish to fry than sorting out our schedules (there are seven of us in the city rotation). We just got put somewhere while they did all the paperwork, but I'll begin rotating again in April.

Anyway… that’s my story. Once more, to summarize:

Coming out of college soon? Be a JET. Don’t have a degree? Get one first (I have a BA in Liberal Arts, LOL). No experience teaching? I did IT work, for chrissakes! Love kids? Hey cool, whatever! Hate kids? Probably not for you. Don’t speak Japanese? Just smile and bow a lot. You’ll be fine. To this day, I can go to a convenience store, and ask them to heat up my bento. Anything above that just elicits the ‘ha-ha-ha-okay!’ response.

As a final serious note: Coming to Japan is one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was hard to just make the initial decision, but once I did, it was all pretty much downhill. There’s way too much ‘but how will I ___?’ crap before you make the decision. After the decision is made, all those questions just become ‘okay, next I gotta ____.’ Everything falls into place.

It builds character, dammit. Puts hair on your chest. You won't regret it if you decide it's somehting you're interested in.



*I kind of feel like a dick for tacking this on here, but let's be clear on something: I don't know you. I got the position because I knew Kento, who introduced me to Mori, who knew Matt.

P.S. Rawr.

As you are obviously male, why do you write as Isobelle?

He plays an undead female warrior by the name of Isobelle.

Anyways, love your articles Iso. Might be time for me to actually register here (someday).

Ill always see Iso as the corpse eating warrior chick!

UNDEAD FOR LYFE!

[raptorX51]

come on, you know me. right? lol. sounds like a pretty sweet deal ya got. grats you lucky bastid!

[isobelle]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

As you are obviously male, why do you write as Isobelle?

OMG, SHUT UP. I'M A GIRL, I'M JUST HUSKY, OKAY?

and sadly, the warrior has been shelved in favor of izobelle the rogue.

but!

it's the exact same race, face, skin tone, hair style & color as the original isobelle. she just wears leather instead of plate.

[Gouka]

Iso, might I ask how old you were when going to Japan?

Anyway, very good article, makes me wanna go there ASAP. Always wanted to visit Japan, it's just so far away, and expensive...

[BigFreak]

Nice tale. Really cool that you just went out there and did it. I'd like to do the same, going over to the US once I finish my degree. But you've gotta fuck around getting visa's and such...and finding somewhere to work that'd rather have a foreigner. Oh well. I can but try.

Originally Posted by isobelle

OMG, SHUT UP. I'M A GIRL, I'M JUST HUSKY, OKAY?

and sadly, the warrior has been shelved in favor of izobelle the rogue.

but!

it's the exact same race, face, skin tone, hair style & color as the original isobelle. she just wears leather instead of plate.

Pfft leather is so tacky! Ive shelved my undead lock n now playing my troll priest.. but my troll can corpse if he really wanted to amirite?

[BigFreak]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Pfft leather is so tacky! Ive shelved my undead lock n now playing my troll priest.. but my troll can corpse if he really wanted to amirite?

Corpse isn't a verb, amirite?

Also is that you punching the kid in the face, iso? Is that OK in Japanese schools? And in the picture below...is that during the SARS outbreak?

[Mordiceius]

I've always wanted to do the JET program ever since I read http://www.gaijinsmash.net/

Maybe it'll be something to do once my Air Force enlistment is up in four years.

Iso, have you ever experienced Kancho?

[colekutz]

Thank you for such a tale of inspiration. Like you we also have moved from one fine nation to yet another to make a life. It was perhaps a more simple ordeal for us as all 7 people chose to do it as a conglomeration.

While there is much we miss about Argentina there is so much to cause wonder in America, but all the wonder in the world is not here. To find a place to heat up a nutritious Bento would be a most complete lunch. We simply are stuck to only being offered one sort of canned coffee unless it is to Mitsuwa we point our vehicles. Can we ask if Boss coffee is a prefered iced brand of you?

Iso we are led to ask you of this morning musame near your name. Is their military service conscripted and if so, please detail their daily rations. Could perhaps their rations account for their flared nostrils?

[Unregistard]

I think the picture in the scrubs is japanese signlanguage for "roundeye mickeymouse" but i'm a bit rusty so it might also mean "time for your spongebath Mr Isobelle"

wow that's quite a story, gz
i wish someone in japan needed russian lol
i wouldn't go there but it's always nice to know you have some value

So, whats with the avatar ? Who's the chicks?

[colekutz]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So, whats with the avatar ? Who's the chicks?

Please behave like a detective and follow the link in this article as instructed and you will learn much about the morning musame.

The only mystery is why they are in the army.

[Ged]

Sounds nicer than England

[oshin]

Originally Posted by colekutz

The only mystery is why they are in the army.

Or there phone number/home addresses`s amirite ?

So anyway more on topic, are you planning on sticking with teaching in Japan ? I know teaching wouldn't be down my alley.

Id love to try the whole working in a different country thing, and my choice in collage course seems to suit it (So far I have heard of this years graduates Norway and a guy from last year went to Kazakhstan, and a few people have mentioned jobs in Iraq). Im kinda tied down by a medical thing though and tbh those jobs look like they pay well, but there in the middle of nowhere, probably with angry locals.

Reading your article I find myself LOLzing. I work for a branch of a Huge Japanese Company. 90% of all of our managers are Japanese and when you spoke about how the Japanese have the art of looking busy down to a science you hit the nail right on the head.

The managers here usually get in at 8am and stay till about 7-8pm. There is no way they have that much work. Lucky me I work in the IT department so when websites like "NotAddicted" come up as "Gaming" Websites that are blocked by the web filters, they mysteriously get re-assigned as "Computing and Internet". Lets not talk about the scripts I have to clear my Web perusing logs every 15 mins of anything that is not google or yahoo....

ANYWAYS.. The reason I started out that I was in IT is that I can monitor what they do obviously. Lets just say, they are definetly busy doing something, just not always related to work. I just wish I could read Japanese it would make it a whole lot more fun. I used to work for germans so at least sometimes you could understand words like "Informatzien" and other similar words. But with Japanese...how am I supposed to Translate what looks like a Christmas tree with a penis doing something nasty to a Window?.....

Anyways.. good read. thanks.

[Ripperjack]

Hey if it gets me a Japanese girl friend, then I'm all for it! Then again, I live on the Gold Coast, Australia in a little town called New Tokyo... er, I mean... Surfers Paradise. As you can guess there is a HUGE Japanese tourist population over here at any given time of the year. Hell, I get my Japanese lunch box meals every day from a little shop down the street from my office block, staffed by these gorgeous Japanese waitress honeys... I gotta get the balls to ask one of them out some time.

Then again, if I were to go to Japan, I would become a Sumo Wrestler. At 6'4" and 130Kg, which is about 270lbs or something of fat encased muscle, I would be a SEX GOD... since the girls over there go crazy for their Sumo heroes.

[isobelle]

i came over here when i was 29. it was february, and i was turning 30 that june. they like to have 'young' people over here, and so i snuck in just under the big three-oh. once you begin, you can stay as long as you like. i know a guy that's been doing it for 11 or 12 years now. it's good money.

the SARS outbreak happens everyday, at lunchtime. they dress up in these little outfits, and go grab the food from the kitchen, and bring it to the classrooms to divvy out and eat. it's cute. i bet that's 90% of why they do it.

the military operation pictured is my personal escort. they are with me at all times. the one in the hat is a specialist in toenail trimming, and the one with the ribbon in her hair can break a man's arm in 23 places. ALL AT ONCE.

the other two just stand around looking cute. it's good P.R.



seriously, the biggest two myths surrounding this whole affair are the cost and difficulty involved. neither of those two things are real. Japan is not expensive. i think that's a myth started by the japanese so all the foreigners don't come over and steal their women.

it also isn't terribly hard to come over get started. you just look for a job, email the people, then go to the embassy and pick up your visa. i will stress it one more time, and put it in italics:

if you're interested in doing this, JUST FUCKING DO IT.

[Bloodybloodblood]

Thank you, Iso, for the article. i actually was planning on PMing you in a few days/months/periods of time, asking the questions you just answered. I very much want to go to Japan, and am about to start college (paid for by the Marines and the State of Texas). I will definitely look into the JET program once I am approaching graduation. Yeah, I still have a lot of questions, but most, like you amended, are the 'But how will I ____' variety.

So yeah, just wanted to say thanks. And w00t for female toons. Regardless of the player's gender.

[Mars506]

Just like 50% of your readers, I have also wanted to ask about your icon since I saw it for the first time.

Your posts are 90% of why I read NotAddicted. I very much enjoy your style of writing and humor, and the insight you have as an American living abroad. Your personal story made for a great read, and in the future, I would just as much like to know about your adventures in Japan as your insights into online gaming. If you ever do start a personal blog, do let me know.

And let me know if you ever decide to visit Hong Kong. If you like to travel and enjoy the local life, I can assure you there's plenty to see here.

Long time NA lurker here.

Iso, I have a few questions for you.

First being that I'm currently a Ssgt. in the Air Force at the moment and three semester hours from my BA in Applied Sciences (Think of your degree but on a more technical level). My enlistment ends in roughly nine months. I'm 23. Would any of these factors go against my chances of possibly getting a teaching job? I'm just asking because I know of some programs that have some limitations regarding military, age, ect.

I love the fact people in Japan are so accepting of Americans in their country. With things as they are in the world atm its almost like you have a bad stigma. Spain is a good example. They are fucking ruthless there.

Anyhow, you inspired me to look further into this. I'm too young to be settling down midwest somewhere in the good ol' US. Japan seem right up my ally.

Thanks for the info Iso.

[Deafdumbandblind]

I would like to go to Japan to learn to be a ninja.

I'm surprised you did teaching instead of ninja'ing.....or is being a teacher your cover?

[Deity]

Question is where you'd be at without knowing someone there beforehand...

I'm sure knowing someone there and having some ppl helping you find a job is great, it's allways an easy way into a country and community.

How is it if you know absolutely noone?

[isobelle]

That's where the JET part comes into play. they travel the countryside in feral packs; harassing the locals, and spewing profanities in between gulps of sake.

i alluded to it briefly above, but the JETs really stick together. If you get in the program (read: have a pulse, want to try it out), it's like joining a gang. they teach you the gang signs, and you can flash them across the street at other foreigners... oh, what...? they didn't flash it back? time for a freestyle karaoke battle! whut nukka?!

ok. i'm being silly, but yeah... being a JET means you will have built in teammates in the country. even if you aren't a JET (like me) you'll meet other teachers in your district. you WILL drink with them, and rant about how crazy it is over here. even if you're a solitary type (like me) you'll have them there when you need them, and you can ignore them the rest of the time.

being a foreigner means anyone not japanese is on your team. i made a bunch of australian friends over here and know people from new zealand, canada, england, south africa, puerto rico, brazil, and jamacia. 90% of the time i'm just at home playing WoW while my girlfriend watches TV, but those people are there to chat with or whatever.

even if you came over knowing NOBODY, you wouldn't be alone very long (unless you wanted to be, which is cool... whatever). ventrilo is my main outlet or fix for the native language... i chat with a bunch of guildies that i've never met face to face, but talk to everyday. there are a bunch of people that go out every weekend skiing in hiroshima, or on trips to hokkaido or whatever, but i'm a homebody.

being 23, or being in the miltary won't count against you in any way. enthusiasm is what counts, and if that comes across you're golden. even nervous energy is energy. just don't be a dead fish and you'll get hired.


and thanks for the kind words, mars.. posts like that make my day

[Mordiceius]

what about the kancho, Iso, THE KANCHO

[SGMessiah]

Your article makes me want to move to japan, gief sushi!

[colekutz]

We would like to offer caution to all who wish to move to another nation. Though it can be wonderous and full of soft nights, we would like to make sure all know that doing so will always call upon you to give up some things which you loved in your homeland.

For instance, we are likely to ask Iso if he was to wish a new Leonard Cohen compact disc, would he be able to buy one in japan or would it result in a long and expensive series of mail requests?

Iso can drink boss coffee in front of a camera to taunt us any time that he may wish, but is it even possible for him to meet our abilities to purchase a true italian styled hoagie and likewise hold it to a camera in taunt?

We found many things from Argentina were missed upon the move of all of us to America. But in funny circumstance, we would also miss much from America if we had been indulged to return to Argentina or any other nation.

Hong Kong has been visited by every one of us. We have never before or after seen a market with so many vibrant birds for sale.

[isobelle]

boss coffee is good, but georgia is my flavor of choice. i was saddened a bit to find that georgia is actually made by the coca-cola company, is there a beverage market left in the world untapped by their shareholders?!

sandwiches here are delicious, served at convenience stores in sealed packages... three half sandwiches with the crusts sliced off (don't start, i love the crust, it's just how they do things here). seven eleven here is like fine dining compared to it's american counterparts. i have commented on many occasion (and will do so again without hesitation) that being trapped in a japanese seven eleven for the remainder of my life would be just fine for me, food-wise.

they don't have turkey, which is a mystery to me. they refer to turkey as the fabled 'big american chicken', and when i showed the 2nd graders photos of me basting a christmas roast, they were impressed to say the least (THE LEGEND IS TRUE!!!). i buy french rolls at the local market, and create enormous hoagie style meals full of ham and ham and ham and pastrami and roast beef and ham, and the local male citizenry are awestruck by the amount of meat to lettuce ratio i can achieve (would it impress you if i said i worked at a Togo's at one point in my life? didn't think so).



and oh yes. the kancho is real.

i used to avoid it, but going out of your way to do so just encourages the kids to do it even more. now i either do it back to them, harder (THE GAIJIN BARBARIAN IS RAPING OUR COUNTRY'S LITTLE BOYS WITH HIS FINGER!), or just grab their fingers and twist (HE STOPPED RAPING THEM, AND IS BREAKING THEIR FINGERS NOW!).

the girls are not so inclined to do it once they reach a certain age, but fear not the kancho. the real thing to be on the lookout for is the 'dick chop'. that's not what it's officially called, but that's what it boils down to. extend your hand out in front of you like you intend to shake someone's hand, then just brace your arm and run full blast into someone so you effectively 'chop' their nads.

it hurts. i stopped class and went off on some kid one time. at first when i grabbed him and carried him up the front of the class he was howling with laughter, put when i put him down in front of everyone and proceeded to use the 'big voice' everyone got quiet, and the offender began to cry.

hasn't happened since, LOL who laughing now, you little shit?!

(i'm really not a horrible person )

[Runned]

/\/\/\ I thought you were going to say that you dick chopped the kid in front of all his classmates

[smarsh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kancho
LOL, wtf!

Great shit iso, keep the crazy Japan stories coming!

http://www.kancho.org/how_to_kancho.html

[Gouka]

Originally Posted by isobelle

So Iso, this is you suckerpunching the kind that 'dick chopped' you?

[(Un)conscious]

Good post Iso!

Oh and now you know they all really are martial art nuts. The kid is smilling while getting punched by a 31 yr old! He's probably thinking "You Gaijin die now, me do special move taught by grand father on top of mountain"

PS: Rip you live in Surfers Paradise, and still do not get laid? Dude the place is crawling with hawt chicks in bikinis, its like paradise!

[colekutz]

We have with our own eyes and mouths been to the sandwhich shop Togo's in New York City. While the stuffing skills impressed us so, we must ask, why it is the trained staff of Togos must insist on the avocado in every edible that they make?

[Naolin]

Heard that morality of the children in japan is actually pretty big an issue. (well in general not only the children, I saw on the news once they have seperate cabins in trains for women to stop harrasment)

Good to hear you have such a great twist in your life and that it worked out. Me myself am going to move out of this dumb of a country soonish (Netherlands) to move somewhere else I haven't decided where though but japan looks like a nice option.

[Deity]

Nice... it's really interesting.. and I'm actually considering it, possibly for this fall or such... JET.. i dont know if that's an option for me? .. I live in sweden now even though i grew up in the states, but sure.. it'd be interesting.. just that I'd be moving somewhere where i knew absolutely noone.. which is kinda a big thing for me as I'm not a home person.. I'm actually very social.. and the fact that I did spend several months playing wow hardcore and raiding is pretty amazing.

[shadowstalker]

This is one of the most fascinating articles i read in quite a while. Seriously. makes me wonder if i can do that too. Wow. I gotta say "gz", what you did sounds more of an accomplishment than dinging 70. Gz man, and thanks for sharing