The following is what I wrote about myself on my profile:
Stephen Pihlaja is an American English teacher, writer, and cyclist from Chicago, IL. He has been living in Japan for nearly three years and is currently pursuing his Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics through the University of Birmingham (UK). A student of Japanese language and culture, creative written texts, and EFL, he is interested in the effects of social imbalance (in Japan and studied target countries) on the EFL classroom as well as the effect of grammar translation methodology on the soul of the EFL learner. He also is interested in the grammar of this sentence. He teaches English in an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) capacity at a large private high school in Niigata City, Japan, where he also lives with his wife, Yoko. Together, they make a pair.I didn't write this, but I think it's pretty accurate:
I believe words are mostly meaningless and that everything said in this room should stay in this room. I believe in the inherent lie of an imagine. I believe in hope because there is nothing left to believe in but hope. I believe in the sentence, failed. I believe in me, Yoko and me: that's reality.