20 years ago , a long time.

20 years ago today I came across JREF , don't remember how. I joined to see if I could find old friends from the time I lived in Fukuoka. I never did find any of my old friends , but sure made a lot of new ones here over the years. Over the years , I got to meet a couple JREF members face to face. A few I lost to the grim reaper and learned about their deaths. Most who seemed to be close , as close as you can be on the internet just faded away to the Bermuda Triangle of the internet , leaving me to wonder about them. A few are still good friends on Facebook and no longer on JREF. At 73 , one of my proudest moments in my 73 years on earth was when Thomas appointed me as "Admin". I'm too old to roam the forest hunting anymore , so now I enjoy hunting spammers & trolls here. I may not always be logged in , but if I'm awake and on the computer , I check on things about every 20 minutes , always afraid I miss something , LOL. I have enjoyed the information here on so many different topics and all the images stored here over the years. I have never returned to Japan , too far from Maine and too expensive for me , but JREF has allowed me to spend time in Japan by being on this great forum. I can't thank Thomas ever enough for all the hard work and time he has put into our forum for so many years. So...a big thankyou to the moderators and members here who have enriched my life for these 20 years and a big hug to Thomas.

♪ It was twenty years ago today....

Twenty years ago (not quite to the day, but very close) I had a change at work that set me on an accelerated career path, and allowed me to travel the world and do a lot of very neat things that I otherwise would never have done. Met a lot of people that changed me for the better (I hope). I was a poster on Gaijinpot and got into a bunch of stupid internet arguments with people, and also helped someone negotiate an unfair termination. Very scary for me because in my mind I was just posting stuff anonymously to kill time and to give casual advice, but to this person who was unfairly terminated, my advice was becoming a lifeline. I realized that some posts can have far-reaching consequences. Anyway, I'm super glad it worked out for that person - and I met them in real life once. Hope that person is still doing well.

Anyway - thanks to Thomas and Uncle Frank and the mods for keeping the wheels running.
And thanks to posters (except for the trolls - you know who you are) for giving us content to think about, argue over, laugh at, etc...

Twenty years, wow. That's a long time. Every so often I realize just how long it's been since I left Japan, and it's amazing how fast the time goes. It sure doesn't feel that long.

@Uncle Frank, you're an institution here at JREF! Here's to (hopefully) another 20 years!

One more year until my 20 year jref anniversary. I wasn't here the entire time though. Crazy how the time goes by.

I still bless the day you found JREF, Frank! You are the forum's heart and soul, and I thank you for shaping and contributing to JREF for over two decades. Here's to the next twenty years.


I am sure you have noticed the batch in your profile.

As good as Olympic gold ! Thank you !

Twenty years ago, I was preparing to come to Japan to live with my Japanese girlfriend, who'd had to return to Japan. We ended up getting married and staying together, but the rest of ny life has had a hell of a lot of ups and downs during that time.

20 years! It's really long. I just married my wife around that time. And now I've realized that I've been here in JREF for over 15 years... Yes, time indeed flies...

JREF is the only one place on the web where I continue to stay such a long time because it's no doubt very comfortable. I, too, thank all the people on this forum (well, Majestic-san already mentioned exceptions).

Twenty years was indeed a long time ago.

I was a much more immature person then, and have been through highs and lows since then, but unfortunately my life at the moment continues to reach an all-time low. I respect a lot of people I've met here, and wish I could have continued to be a positive presence. But since I can't be, and since physically, mentally, and emotionally I am just continuing to break down, this will be the last post I make here (for real this time).

Once again, to everyone I've had a positive interaction with, thank you. To everyone who I've actually learned something from (you know who you are) thank you even more.

To everyone else -- I'm sorry. Any negative interaction was probably my fault, so...I'm sorry for existing. Goodbye.

bentenmusume said:

Twenty years was indeed a long time ago.

I was a much more immature person then, and have been through highs and lows since then, but unfortunately my life at the moment continues to reach an all-time low. I respect a lot of people I've met here, and wish I could have continued to be a positive presence. But since I can't be, and since physically, mentally, and emotionally I am just continuing to break down, this will be the last post I make here (for real this time).

Once again, to everyone I've had a positive interaction with, thank you. To everyone who I've actually learned something from (you know who you are) thank you even more.

To everyone else -- I'm sorry. Any negative interaction was probably my fault, so...I'm sorry for existing. Goodbye.

Click to expand...

I hope you change your mind and come back at some point. I also hope things get better for you.

Amen. @bentenmusume I wish you strength and resilience in whatever you are facing now. I think we'd much rather see some future posts from you, whenever you get through to the other side of these tough times, as you no doubt will. I look forward to the day when you can look back on whatever your troubles are, and you can say, "I'm glad I got through that".