Abufletcher - I was an English teacher for Tokyo Metropolitan Government.  I lived there for 8 months a year and then spent 4 months on Chichijima island in the Ogasawara Islands group.  The schools on both islands were administered by Tokyo Metropolitan Govt.  I did that stint for 3 years and then went to Chiba to manage a private English language school.Tim

That’s great! I always wanted to go to the Middle East and Gulf States. Closest I got was India in my current job.

I began flying control line and building models when I was 12. My cousin and uncle were into it and taught me. Then my uncle taught me to fly RC when I was 14 and I was hooked. I built models in my dorm room at college. Last year in college I went on a study abroad program to Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. After graduation I went back to Thailand and became a Buddhist monk and an English teacher for a time. Then Gulf War I started and my parents got worried and I went back to Minnesota. Couldn’t find a job to save my butt and had student loans so waited tables and eventually ended up managing a local restaurant. After 3 years I saw an ad for the JET Program teaching English in Japan. I applied, got accepted and headed to Japan. On Oshima, since it was an island, I ordered a seaplane kit from the States, got an old radio set and engine from my uncle and I was back into RC. When I moved to Chiba to manage the private English language school, I made friends with the local RC store owner. He let me build planes in the shop at the back of his store and taught me more advanced building techniques, like glassing and painting, and helped me become a better flyer. That’s where I fell in love with the Kawasaki KI-61 and KI-100. Anyway, I stayed in Japan 9 years and then moved back here to MN. I am still in teaching/training and manage a training department for a health insurance company. I have a basement workshop where I build airplanes and furniture. I still go back to Japan every couple of years to visit friends.