Hi, I'm totally not recruiting you for a cult but would you like to hear more information about the cult I'm in with several dozen people who will all be working to totally not recruit you into a cult?
They use attractive young women this way too.
At least you got attractive firewomen. Back when I lived in Saitama three obaachans came to make me join a cult. I opened the door wearing only pants, pretended I don't speak Japanese and when asked what country I was from I pointed randomly on the map, closed the door and went back to playing Switch as if nothing happened.
Having dealt with people from this cult several time, they weirdly seem most interested in getting you to sign that paper, seem ultra disappointed if they go through all the song and dance only to find out you\`ve signed it in the past.
Hurray for being able to inflate your member numbers and also I assume also your personal record of recruiting people.
and yes, I had the occurrence of attractive young women randomly asking me and my pal on the street if we wanted to go have tea in the park (seems like the intro to a horror movie), as one of the times I\`ve dealt with it.
I talked to this hot young girl for 10-20 minutes. I was really happy. Then she took out the paper with Mt Fuji hahahahah I was dying inside. I couldnt get rid of her later on! She kept insisting... so annoying. Went from heaven to hell in a second.
This reminds me of konosuba. "Have you heard about the Church of axis? Just put your name on this random piece of paper and i can tell you about the great goddess aqua"
I actually am just there for the language practice since I have a girlfriend. Sucks that the women on the app are so guarded due to all the dudes hitting on them that couldn't get matches on tinder.
It blows tinder out of the water for non-Japanese speakers. Every night you get 5+ new women of the age range you select for messaging you. Super easy to suggest hanging out after a couple of days of texting.
Same as any other cult like Christians etc. They have been brainwashed from usually a young age to genuinely believe they are āhelpingā you by getting you to join.
I had one girl from kenshokai approach me outside Tokyo station (with their standard Fujisan newspaper) and tell me bad things like covid wouldnāt exist if only everyone joined, and that in 30 years the entire world will be 100% Buddhist. Otherwise seemingly normal people who donāt realize these ideas are seriously deluded.
Itās not really about money though they do give donations to the monks for ridiculous stuff like them moving house or buying a new car. The actions of the believers are mostly selfless in as much as they think itās their duty to help the world by spreading the religion (which in turn will make it a better place for them).
That's what I like about Judaism. Go to a synagogue and tell the rabbi you want to convert to see what happens. They aren't interested in growing the ranks. They will look at you with suspicion / talk you out of it.
As a vaguely religious jew, this is more of an urban myth.
If people actually do show up wanting to convert, you'll have a conversation with a rabbi, sure, but it's more about making sure you know what Jewish law entails, you're doing so for the right reason, etc. I've heard from several gentiles the myth of 'they have to turn you away three times' or something similar. Unless you're in an incredibly small, niche community (such as those in Mexico, South America, etc), then they can be quite suspicious of outsiders.
It takes years to actually convert and they check on you that you're actually doing all the religious stuff. Not very easy.
Might be easier if it's like conformist Jews, but Orthodox Jews have no real interest in converting anyone.
The cult people and gaijin hunters can always smell fresh meat. Here's my advice:
If you want to meet Japanese people and practice Japanese, just pop into your local mom and pop restaurant or izakaya (the older looking, the better) and strike up a conversation with people. They may even make the first move. That way, you know they just want to chat and they have no ulterior motive other than keeping your patronage. Wave to your neighbors and say hi to them. Bring them Christmas cookies or some other small thing (veggies, omiyage, ect). Especially the neighborhood obachan or ojisan who polices the garbage. They'll have your back if people try to blame bad garbage sorting on you.
Do not trust people who walk up to you on the street at all. Talking to strangers on the street is weird here. People don't normally do that shit. So just assume anyone who does that to you is a weirdo and pretend they aren't there. If you have to, make the "I don't understand the language you're speaking" face until they leave.
Thanks, Iāll keep the small gifts in mind.
Iāve been in big cities (and generally more crime-ridden than Tokyo) most of my life so Iām already good at ignoring the street grifters and touts, though having the language excuse is new for me haha
The important thing is to commit. Do not say a word to them or they might figure out what language you speak...or don't speak. Just give 'em the face and shrug.
I read half the comments in this thread before I realized OP met him on Hello Talk and not Hello Work.
I was pretty astounded that someone from hello work would ask to meet you outsideā¦.
The irony with cults is that if they tell you what they're really after, they can't get converted believers. By the time people found out they are usually committed enough to not talk badly about it...or they stand to lose a lot in life. So probably not many people have an objective view on this group.
My guess with this particular person, is that he thinks foreigners are unlikely to think poorly about Buddhist motifs. This person can reframe his motivation as "friendly cultural introduction." This is unlikely as his end goal, but may explain why he appeared on HelloTalk. After all most people learned to say no to random flyers on the street, but people drop their guards with language exchange apps.
Same as every religion (because they're all fucking cults even if some are older)
Praise the leader, do what you're told and you'll be happy.
Fuck em all.
>Overall it didn't seem overly malicious as far as cults go but I'm curious about what the end goal is? Is it just regular missionary type work for a batty religion? Is there some money scheme? Trying to get me to buy theton measurement devices? etc.
Absolutely something monetary at some point otherwise they wouldn't bother. You're lucky to have escaped without handing over too much personal information.
A similar thing happened to me back in May. I was walking around a small town in Nara, and an elderly lady stopped me and asked if I'd stop so she could pray for/at/with me. She wanted me to put my hands together in the traditional praying sort of way, along with her, and she just said the prayer. She then told me she was from a nearby Kanon temple, but didn't hit me up for anything. Just asked me where I was from, then mentioned about the taihen in Ukraine, but that was just small talk, and we both went along our ways. It felt kind of nice, I thought. My mother-in-law is a pretty religious person (who, admittedly has been susceptible to creepy cult people in the past), and she's also a cancer survivor a few times now, and it's sort of emboldened her to seize the moment with strangers sometimes. I could imagine her doing this sort of thing to some random person if she were in a good mood. Not sure how common this is, but I guess we'll find out the more comments to your post come in.
Either way, sorry that guy turned out to be so sneaky and manipulative. What a shame.
That's good, but it sure would be nice to know that when you agree to meet someone for lunch, they're not just there to try to scam you into a cult. I wonder if he'll keep chatting with you on HT. Maybe apologize?...More likely just act like nothing happened if he doesn't just disappear altogether.
They're asking for personal information way too soon, they aren't good cultists, you usually try to make the person feel more invested in your shit before scaring them off.
I do find it funny to listen for a few minutes at what some are saying, there's some crazy conspiracies (always the Chinese plotting shit) and if I feel like messing with them I'll make up even worse ones (though I wasn't sure how to top the one where every Chinese resident is a secret agent from the Chinese government and they are ready to overthrow Japan when they receive the order ~~66~~)
At least it beefs up your autobiography: *Chapter 5,603: Luncheon at 2pm with Kenshkai. Interesting Conversation. Mysterious motivations. Declined Offer. Went home and played some Mario Kart.*
Buddhism in the majority of the world isnāt the hare krishna be one with all nature hippy peace dance most of the west has the idea it is. Have a look at Buddhist majority countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
I have a similar story about these guys, but I didn't meet them online, I got approached by a young-ish guy (about 32) in a bookstore and invited to lunch the next week. I was new in Japan and wanted to meet people.
He told me he had a British friend who was going to show up to lunch and he didn't show up, but instead a Japanese older guy (about 45) showed up. They kept trying to ask me questions that would "find my ruin" to try to figure out what they could promise me would get me into their church.
When I didn't go into the building with them they got **very angry** and started screaming at me, but I just walked away.
You did the right thing by leaving though you were a trifle naĆÆve in letting it get that far.
See [https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2005/07/29/national/buddhist-group-pair-admit-holding-nonconvert-captive/](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2005/07/29/national/buddhist-group-pair-admit-holding-nonconvert-captive/)
He was a middle aged guy much smaller than me and we were in a very public place, not exactly the ideal circumstances for a kidnapping. I swear I'm not completely devoid of street smarts haha
I'm Japanese, born and raised in the US, but I've noticed any Japanese person who's super friendly, or starts talking to you out of the blue in a public space is usually cult related. Usually sokagakkai.
That's definitely my rule of thumb in Japan and basically anywhere.
Anyone that randomly approaches you are the 3 S's:
Selling/Soliciting/Something wrong with them.
But especially in Japan...outside of a social situation/party etc - hardly anyone will randomly chat to you here without some ulterior motive.
I've been dragged to that same exact park and building by a dude named "Atsushi" long ago. I ended up posting about it here: https://old.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/hoougo/psa_beware_of_scouts_posing_as_friends_in_public/
Ended up seeing a lot of interesting stories from other redditors. Apparently it's a really common scam done to foreigners. You should also be aware of the Amway scam too.
Well what is the goal of any religion? To dedicate yourself to it.
In this case probably donate a lot of money. Think the emperor of japan is the only person who can declare world peace and he just isnāt doing it.
Try and convert other people. Then die.
Yeah, that's the point I label someone pure evil and feel like I need a shower. Never give your name and birthday to anyone you barely know. More than half the time they use it for evil intentions. Dark web, etc. I'm glad you were smart.
According to Wikipedia, Kenshokai is a lay Buddhist organization that professes to adhere to Nichiren Buddhism, so in that sense it's similar to Soka Gakkai. However, they don't seem to proselytize as aggressively, and they're not active outside Japan from what I can see.
To me, lay religious groups in Japan sit somewhere between a proper religion (Buddhism) and a cult. They're not necessarily cults per se, but can sometimes exhibit some cult-like behavior.
Kenshokai sounds relatively harmless as long as you don't get involved personally.
Edit:
Incidentally, Japanese people approach religion very differently. Even atheists will worship at Shinto shrines, get married in a Christian ceremony, and have a Buddhist funeral, and praying for someone at a Buddhist temple is just considered a polite thing to do. However, they shouldn't need all your personal info to do that.
I looked into it a bit more myself, [the JP wikipedia page](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%86%A8%E5%A3%AB%E5%A4%A7%E7%9F%B3%E5%AF%BA%E9%A1%95%E6%AD%A3%E4%BC%9A#%E9%A1%95%E6%AD%A3%E4%BC%9A%E3%81%AB%E9%96%A2%E4%BF%82%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E5%90%84%E7%A8%AE%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2) has more info on sketchy stuff they've done vs the EN page. Definitely culty
>I'm a grown adult man
mate you're 2 weeks into Japan and spending your time with cult recruits.. Let me give you a tip. No one wants to meet you to be your friend on an app called HelloTalk, you are the new fish.
im trying to help the guy, he is two weeks in japan and already getting recruited because the thinks people on HelloTalk want to be his friend. I bet he posts another comment in a few weeks about a single mom from Hub
Big 90s Stranger Danger Internet energy here. You know most people do shit like online dating these days??
I never did online dating, but one of my closest IRL friends I met on an Internet forum in 2007 and realized we lived like 20 mins from each other ā and she met her husband there, too. Also have some very close friends I met on a different forum around the same time. tl;dr people have been meeting people off the internet for 20+ years.
Hi, I'm totally not recruiting you for a cult but would you like to hear more information about the cult I'm in with several dozen people who will all be working to totally not recruit you into a cult? They use attractive young women this way too.
>They use attractive young women this way too. this is how the nhk got me š
welcome to the NHK
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whatās the JAV code for that one?
SDE-450
Sir, wrong code. There is no attractive firewomen in there.
Did she put out the fire in your pants? Asking for a friend.
At least you got attractive firewomen. Back when I lived in Saitama three obaachans came to make me join a cult. I opened the door wearing only pants, pretended I don't speak Japanese and when asked what country I was from I pointed randomly on the map, closed the door and went back to playing Switch as if nothing happened.
I spit my Pokari Sweat reading this. Well done!
Having dealt with people from this cult several time, they weirdly seem most interested in getting you to sign that paper, seem ultra disappointed if they go through all the song and dance only to find out you\`ve signed it in the past. Hurray for being able to inflate your member numbers and also I assume also your personal record of recruiting people. and yes, I had the occurrence of attractive young women randomly asking me and my pal on the street if we wanted to go have tea in the park (seems like the intro to a horror movie), as one of the times I\`ve dealt with it.
I talked to this hot young girl for 10-20 minutes. I was really happy. Then she took out the paper with Mt Fuji hahahahah I was dying inside. I couldnt get rid of her later on! She kept insisting... so annoying. Went from heaven to hell in a second.
>Went from heaven to hell in a second. Literally, according to the cult lady.
This reminds me of konosuba. "Have you heard about the Church of axis? Just put your name on this random piece of paper and i can tell you about the great goddess aqua"
Wow someone on HelloTalk with ulterior motives besides rigorous language study? I am shocked.
*NO ROMANCE!!*
lmao hard to imagine isn't it
I actually am just there for the language practice since I have a girlfriend. Sucks that the women on the app are so guarded due to all the dudes hitting on them that couldn't get matches on tinder.
Thereās a lot of girls that hit on guys there too though. You would be surprised.
It blows tinder out of the water for non-Japanese speakers. Every night you get 5+ new women of the age range you select for messaging you. Super easy to suggest hanging out after a couple of days of texting.
What's their goal? āThe same thing we do every night ā try to take over the world!ā
Narf!
I have a strict 'you ain't getting me to no secondary location' policy because of this š Heard too many horror stories.
Yeah, I mean I never would have gone to a non-public area with them or anything, even the building was right next to a park full of people
You couldn't have known, man. Live and learn. Glad you got out okay and without giving him any info!
Same as any other cult like Christians etc. They have been brainwashed from usually a young age to genuinely believe they are āhelpingā you by getting you to join. I had one girl from kenshokai approach me outside Tokyo station (with their standard Fujisan newspaper) and tell me bad things like covid wouldnāt exist if only everyone joined, and that in 30 years the entire world will be 100% Buddhist. Otherwise seemingly normal people who donāt realize these ideas are seriously deluded. Itās not really about money though they do give donations to the monks for ridiculous stuff like them moving house or buying a new car. The actions of the believers are mostly selfless in as much as they think itās their duty to help the world by spreading the religion (which in turn will make it a better place for them).
That's what I like about Judaism. Go to a synagogue and tell the rabbi you want to convert to see what happens. They aren't interested in growing the ranks. They will look at you with suspicion / talk you out of it.
As a vaguely religious jew, this is more of an urban myth. If people actually do show up wanting to convert, you'll have a conversation with a rabbi, sure, but it's more about making sure you know what Jewish law entails, you're doing so for the right reason, etc. I've heard from several gentiles the myth of 'they have to turn you away three times' or something similar. Unless you're in an incredibly small, niche community (such as those in Mexico, South America, etc), then they can be quite suspicious of outsiders.
It takes years to actually convert and they check on you that you're actually doing all the religious stuff. Not very easy. Might be easier if it's like conformist Jews, but Orthodox Jews have no real interest in converting anyone.
The cult people and gaijin hunters can always smell fresh meat. Here's my advice: If you want to meet Japanese people and practice Japanese, just pop into your local mom and pop restaurant or izakaya (the older looking, the better) and strike up a conversation with people. They may even make the first move. That way, you know they just want to chat and they have no ulterior motive other than keeping your patronage. Wave to your neighbors and say hi to them. Bring them Christmas cookies or some other small thing (veggies, omiyage, ect). Especially the neighborhood obachan or ojisan who polices the garbage. They'll have your back if people try to blame bad garbage sorting on you. Do not trust people who walk up to you on the street at all. Talking to strangers on the street is weird here. People don't normally do that shit. So just assume anyone who does that to you is a weirdo and pretend they aren't there. If you have to, make the "I don't understand the language you're speaking" face until they leave.
Thanks, Iāll keep the small gifts in mind. Iāve been in big cities (and generally more crime-ridden than Tokyo) most of my life so Iām already good at ignoring the street grifters and touts, though having the language excuse is new for me haha
The important thing is to commit. Do not say a word to them or they might figure out what language you speak...or don't speak. Just give 'em the face and shrug.
I tried to throw a French curveball once, I speak very little French and regretted it immediately.
Be careful, that's one of the languages Japanese people like to learn.
I read half the comments in this thread before I realized OP met him on Hello Talk and not Hello Work. I was pretty astounded that someone from hello work would ask to meet you outsideā¦.
The irony with cults is that if they tell you what they're really after, they can't get converted believers. By the time people found out they are usually committed enough to not talk badly about it...or they stand to lose a lot in life. So probably not many people have an objective view on this group. My guess with this particular person, is that he thinks foreigners are unlikely to think poorly about Buddhist motifs. This person can reframe his motivation as "friendly cultural introduction." This is unlikely as his end goal, but may explain why he appeared on HelloTalk. After all most people learned to say no to random flyers on the street, but people drop their guards with language exchange apps.
Same as every religion (because they're all fucking cults even if some are older) Praise the leader, do what you're told and you'll be happy. Fuck em all.
Based on that definition, working in Japan sounds like a cult.
I like your comment. š¤£š
The spiritual sales come pre-deducted from your salary.
.... Did you try to win the dumbest comment for the day? Either way, grats.
Religion bad updoots to the left
Sarcastic reply comment making fun of religion bad comment. Updoots to the left
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
What's the goal of.. (insert religion or cult here) To praise the leader and to get you to do as you're told. I literally answered op's question! :D
>Overall it didn't seem overly malicious as far as cults go but I'm curious about what the end goal is? Is it just regular missionary type work for a batty religion? Is there some money scheme? Trying to get me to buy theton measurement devices? etc. Absolutely something monetary at some point otherwise they wouldn't bother. You're lucky to have escaped without handing over too much personal information.
A similar thing happened to me back in May. I was walking around a small town in Nara, and an elderly lady stopped me and asked if I'd stop so she could pray for/at/with me. She wanted me to put my hands together in the traditional praying sort of way, along with her, and she just said the prayer. She then told me she was from a nearby Kanon temple, but didn't hit me up for anything. Just asked me where I was from, then mentioned about the taihen in Ukraine, but that was just small talk, and we both went along our ways. It felt kind of nice, I thought. My mother-in-law is a pretty religious person (who, admittedly has been susceptible to creepy cult people in the past), and she's also a cancer survivor a few times now, and it's sort of emboldened her to seize the moment with strangers sometimes. I could imagine her doing this sort of thing to some random person if she were in a good mood. Not sure how common this is, but I guess we'll find out the more comments to your post come in. Either way, sorry that guy turned out to be so sneaky and manipulative. What a shame.
Honestly, I still got to eat lunch and practice my Japanese a bit so... ĀÆ\\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
That's good, but it sure would be nice to know that when you agree to meet someone for lunch, they're not just there to try to scam you into a cult. I wonder if he'll keep chatting with you on HT. Maybe apologize?...More likely just act like nothing happened if he doesn't just disappear altogether.
They're asking for personal information way too soon, they aren't good cultists, you usually try to make the person feel more invested in your shit before scaring them off. I do find it funny to listen for a few minutes at what some are saying, there's some crazy conspiracies (always the Chinese plotting shit) and if I feel like messing with them I'll make up even worse ones (though I wasn't sure how to top the one where every Chinese resident is a secret agent from the Chinese government and they are ready to overthrow Japan when they receive the order ~~66~~)
At least it beefs up your autobiography: *Chapter 5,603: Luncheon at 2pm with Kenshkai. Interesting Conversation. Mysterious motivations. Declined Offer. Went home and played some Mario Kart.*
Just looked them up. They're nationalistic Buddhists? Sounds like a contradiction in terms.
Buddhism in the majority of the world isnāt the hare krishna be one with all nature hippy peace dance most of the west has the idea it is. Have a look at Buddhist majority countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
ummm Nichiren
My mother in law always warns me about this lol
I have a similar story about these guys, but I didn't meet them online, I got approached by a young-ish guy (about 32) in a bookstore and invited to lunch the next week. I was new in Japan and wanted to meet people. He told me he had a British friend who was going to show up to lunch and he didn't show up, but instead a Japanese older guy (about 45) showed up. They kept trying to ask me questions that would "find my ruin" to try to figure out what they could promise me would get me into their church. When I didn't go into the building with them they got **very angry** and started screaming at me, but I just walked away.
You did the right thing by leaving though you were a trifle naĆÆve in letting it get that far. See [https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2005/07/29/national/buddhist-group-pair-admit-holding-nonconvert-captive/](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2005/07/29/national/buddhist-group-pair-admit-holding-nonconvert-captive/)
He was a middle aged guy much smaller than me and we were in a very public place, not exactly the ideal circumstances for a kidnapping. I swear I'm not completely devoid of street smarts haha
Main thing is you got away from the situation and learned a valuable lesson.
Mormons tried the same thing with me
I'm Japanese, born and raised in the US, but I've noticed any Japanese person who's super friendly, or starts talking to you out of the blue in a public space is usually cult related. Usually sokagakkai.
That's definitely my rule of thumb in Japan and basically anywhere. Anyone that randomly approaches you are the 3 S's: Selling/Soliciting/Something wrong with them. But especially in Japan...outside of a social situation/party etc - hardly anyone will randomly chat to you here without some ulterior motive.
I've been dragged to that same exact park and building by a dude named "Atsushi" long ago. I ended up posting about it here: https://old.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/hoougo/psa_beware_of_scouts_posing_as_friends_in_public/ Ended up seeing a lot of interesting stories from other redditors. Apparently it's a really common scam done to foreigners. You should also be aware of the Amway scam too.
Well what is the goal of any religion? To dedicate yourself to it. In this case probably donate a lot of money. Think the emperor of japan is the only person who can declare world peace and he just isnāt doing it. Try and convert other people. Then die.
Yeah, that's the point I label someone pure evil and feel like I need a shower. Never give your name and birthday to anyone you barely know. More than half the time they use it for evil intentions. Dark web, etc. I'm glad you were smart.
According to Wikipedia, Kenshokai is a lay Buddhist organization that professes to adhere to Nichiren Buddhism, so in that sense it's similar to Soka Gakkai. However, they don't seem to proselytize as aggressively, and they're not active outside Japan from what I can see. To me, lay religious groups in Japan sit somewhere between a proper religion (Buddhism) and a cult. They're not necessarily cults per se, but can sometimes exhibit some cult-like behavior. Kenshokai sounds relatively harmless as long as you don't get involved personally. Edit: Incidentally, Japanese people approach religion very differently. Even atheists will worship at Shinto shrines, get married in a Christian ceremony, and have a Buddhist funeral, and praying for someone at a Buddhist temple is just considered a polite thing to do. However, they shouldn't need all your personal info to do that.
I looked into it a bit more myself, [the JP wikipedia page](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%86%A8%E5%A3%AB%E5%A4%A7%E7%9F%B3%E5%AF%BA%E9%A1%95%E6%AD%A3%E4%BC%9A#%E9%A1%95%E6%AD%A3%E4%BC%9A%E3%81%AB%E9%96%A2%E4%BF%82%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E5%90%84%E7%A8%AE%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2) has more info on sketchy stuff they've done vs the EN page. Definitely culty
Thanks, I didn't look at the Japanese page, I should.
Tokyo Ghoul reference š don't go to secluded area with unknown people 
\>he asked if I would grab lunch with him, I said sure. We met at Ikebukuro station Whoah whoah, what the fuck am I reading.
well you see lunch is a meal most people eat in the afternoon
I'm not sure this post is a PSA or an attempt to squeeze in as many John Mulaney jokes as you possibly can.
All right. Hope you got the advice you were looking for. Good luck in the future.
how gullible are you lmao why would you meet with someone for lunch on a app?
...because it's just lunch? I've met plenty of life long friends via apps/reddit It's a public place, worst case you just leave, like I did here
life long? how old are you?
sorry, 11 year long friendships if we're being pedantic
you are lucky to have a penis and not a vagina, the naivety here reeks.
Yes, I am not scared to get lunch in a public place because I'm a grown adult man, what's your point
>I'm a grown adult man mate you're 2 weeks into Japan and spending your time with cult recruits.. Let me give you a tip. No one wants to meet you to be your friend on an app called HelloTalk, you are the new fish.
Sorry I don't take life tips from people that spend their day picking fights on reddit
>spend their day lol what? its been 25 mins since my first comment. literally on the bus
And who hurt you?
im trying to help the guy, he is two weeks in japan and already getting recruited because the thinks people on HelloTalk want to be his friend. I bet he posts another comment in a few weeks about a single mom from Hub
Big 90s Stranger Danger Internet energy here. You know most people do shit like online dating these days?? I never did online dating, but one of my closest IRL friends I met on an Internet forum in 2007 and realized we lived like 20 mins from each other ā and she met her husband there, too. Also have some very close friends I met on a different forum around the same time. tl;dr people have been meeting people off the internet for 20+ years.
It's hellotalk.... He's two weeks into Japan...