Declared dead to a credit card company.

Credit card was most definitely over the top a while ago, add in my stuff and stuff my wife bought without my knowledge, and a few of them were astronomical, but part of the wife's credit card expenses were necessary, as in basketball uniforms for my son, I don't really know what the other stuff was about. I spent too much money on iTunes, not necessary stuff, but to which I've curbed quite a bit recently.

I'll get into background a bit here.

I married her so I could come to Japan to help support my son. I'm still married cause she told me she wants to take my son to Canada, and the only way that's happening is if she gets a Permanent Residential Status as the wife of a Canadian citizen. She seems to be placing complications on that plan though, like we need to pay 30 000 dollars pension plan before we go.

Part of the problem probably lay in the early distribution of power. When we first got here, I was 22, and she was 29, so she was first older and more experienced and second this was her home country, so I both gave her almost entire control over everything and she sort of just took that.

I wasn't terribly committed early on, as in getting married wasn't what I had wanted to do, so I went out drinking a couple of nights while I was 22 and almost cheated on her, she could've guessed about one, the other I told her about with the idea that being honest about that would let her know I was being honest about everything.

So six years go by, and I'm giving her all my money, doing everything to gain her trust again, and yet I also want some changes made.

I discover that attempting to negotiate changes just doesn't work, and the night I almost cheated on her is invoked as a both a way to shut me down and as a bargaining chip, and when pressed hard that she just didn't want to do anything I asked cause she didn't care about me since that night. She also employed a lot of agreeing to something, then later throwing in complications just to make what I wanted unfeasible, or telling me she wanted to do this but really she had in mind that, and I didn't find out till it was too late, and then she just laughed like it wasn't a big deal, and if I got angry she'd either try charming her way out of my anger or belittlingly telling me I just didn't 'know'. She'll say sorry and it'll never happen again, but then it does, like nights when I'd be stuck with no place to sleep on cold nights till 4am and then she laughingly tells me she just didn't want to be alone while she finished up preparing for work the next day.

Mike, you are very correct that I went out drinking with the idea of deliberately pissing her off. Strangely, she's gotten a little more pliable in negotiations since I started doing that occasionally, like it's making the statement that even what she held over me as her ultimate chip carries little power. The chick's number was neither what I wanted nor wanted the wife to find.

I also tell her I'll let her know what I'm using the credit card for when she lets me know what she's doing with my money. She refuses to do that.

It is fubar, and perhaps a good marriage counselor would help sort things out, cause the state of our marriage is not solely my fault, but good marriage counselors do not seem to exist here in Japan.

I don't know that all that made sense, it probably is just mind blowing to most.

I'm checking whether I can divorce here on Canadian terms, but if not, I'll have to go back to Canada and force it from there. If I do this on Japanese terms, I'll have to either take her to court to attempt a forced divorce, and then she may charge me up to 40 000 dollars for my almost cheating on her, and I don't even want to get into the number of arguments we'd get into were I to as has been suggested just flat out refuse to pay the 40 000 dollars, and I'm not sure what the Japanese laws would do were I to renege on the ruling.

Hey, I get that some are going to harshly criticize and even come after me to some extent. I hardly expect some people in real life to be understanding, and I certainly expect it less online.
 
This situation can be understood a little better by reading the 2010 thread:
Canada for my son?

But really, I'm not sure if there's much more we can say that will help you Rev. :?
I hope someday you'll create and share some good news about your relationship. 👍
 
Yeah, a huge post offering advice used to be here. I've decided against it after I saw the previous thread. All I can say to you now is to get your act together. :(
 
If you knew going there would further anger her and deliberately went for just that purpose, then isn't it a little dishonest to come here and ask if there is something wrong with your going there?
 
Mike, trust me when I say my primary intent at the time was just getting to a place where people seemed jovial. But later thinking on what you said earlier, I think I've also made the connection somehow that doing that does make her more open to negotiation, so perhaps that was a subconscious motive on the night of last weekend as well. I dunno, I do know that I just wanted to be around people that seemed like they were just enjoying themselves, and just for a bit more context, the last time I went out was on my birthday last year (May 1st), was when my family headed to a basketball tournament in a different prefecture and stayed the night there while I had to work till 9:30 pm on that Saturday.

Mike, I'm just wondering whether you're just coming after what's easy to make smart posts about or whether you're actually trying to offer real advice, real objective advice being something that I usually find in no other forum but this one. Other forums will either simply rip into me or pat me on the back and tell me everything I'm doing is right, here I trust most are more even keeled objective people not just cruising for sounding smart online.
 
If you recall, prior to offering my thoughts in one of your My Life Is An Open Book threads I asked you if you would like me to refrain, as I would be my normal blunt impolitic self. You told me to go ahead. The offer to refrain from commenting still stands, if you prefer.
 
I'm not asking you to refrain. I'm bluntly asking you what your intentions are.
 
If it were my intention to take cheap shots at your expense would I have offered to keep silent in the first place?
 
From that other thread, Revenant made this statement:
Here it is dishonesty and almost a complete disregard for anything I want that just gets to me at times. Sure I'd love to say I could be the ever stoic for the sake of my son kind a guy, honestly I can't pull that facade all the time though, and I know that from experience.

Grow up. Seriously. It is not about putting on any facade. It is about taking responsibility for your actions and being mature. Keep your pants zipped, too. You want to maintain a relationship with your son? Do the above. No negotiations here.

P!ss and moan about being left in the cold at 4am, but why should we have any sympathy for you? It's your fault you were out that late anyway, and a family man should not be doing that sort of thing.

In the other thread you wrote that you have to repay a considerable amount of money to your in-laws for hospital expenses you incurred, and that there may even be "spinoff" expenses which would raise that amount. Good grief, man! How the hell can you face that sort of obligation by spending some unholy amount on iTunes of all things!? Again, I say grow up.

You are human and want the companionship of your buddies and perhaps some English experience that you can't get at home. Understandable, but you are the one at fault here and the one who had a debt to repay (financial and trust), so rein in your desires and suck it up. Trust take forever to restore, and your wife is justified in using any past indiscretion to support her suspicions about anything you do now which may seem to lead to others. It's not her fault; it's yours. You will have to live with that stigma. Nobody is telling you it will be the least bit easy, but don't come here or to your friends in the bars for sympathy unless she is being UNreasonable.

From the other thread:
She wouldn't work at all at actually doing anything to make our relationship smoother.
Have you given her any reason to? No! Don't complain.

She doesn't do housework, she doesn't work, she's not about to be honest about things important to me, and about the only thing she does a very good job at is taking care of my son.
So, be a man and take the high road and do the housework for her! Show that you are willing to contribute instead of running up an idiotic bar tab or iTunes bill. Oh, and be happy that she does such a good job taking care of your son. How do you show her that you appreciate that? By putting a floozie's email address on your cell phone? Geez. Have I told you to grow up?

You yourself have characterized yourself in that other thread as:

discontent
irresponsible
really on the laidback side (with regard to finding work)
I understand I'm not the kind of guy who should be trusting my own judgement completely, as I've been told I'm not great at figuring out or connecting with other people...
I take a very ambiguous outlook on life, thinking that this may be both good and bad...
being on the fringe of society (whatever the hell that means)


Then there is this from a Canadian who has no university degree:
What I'm feeling at the moment, and judge me as some ******* if you will, is if I get the good paying job next March, I'll be able to pay everything off in three years or so
So, It's essentially May. Do you have a job yet? You wrote the above in November/December.
 
Hey Rev, look bro, you know you've really hit rock-bottom, when even an ultra-positive peace-maker like me comes and verbally kicks you in the butt when you're down. Are you ready?

You said Honesty is important to you, you implied that your biggest sin was "almost" cheating 11 years ago, but: the Honest truth is you were straight-out DATING a GIRLFRIEND 3 years ago, correct?

And even after your wife found out and told you that if you continued dating she wouldn't let you see your son anymore, you STILL continued dating that girlfriend, right?

Canada for my son?
Canada for my son?

Look, unless you masochistically enjoy hearing people tell you again and again that the actions you committed in the past are the cause of the effects you are seeing now, I don't see what value can come from repeatedly posting and trying to defend those past actions.

How about simply not bringing up the negative past actions anymore, neither yours nor hers, and instead: simply focus on Right Now, the Present.

What can you do TODAY that will increase the chances of your wife continuing to allow you to see your son?

I'm quite sure that all of us here are hoping that your next post will be something like, "Hey JREF friends, today I did a little something nice and responsible, which led to my wife feeling 1 percent happier, which led to me feeling 1 percent more confident about the chances of me continuing to be able to see my son who I love very much." :12:
 
There are a million ways to improve your situation. You just need to try one.

Staying in a marriage you have no faith in and that you constantly sabotage will not make you, your son, or your wife happy.

Money Issues
Sit down with your wife and plan a budget. Decide on how much to spend and save each month.

Wife Issues
Figure out what you want, then act appropriately. If it's a divorce, then get started. If it's rebuilding the relationship, then get started with that.
 
@Glenski - the very first statement that is very untrue, is I was NOT left OUT in the cold at 4am cause I was out drinking. I was with my wife from 8pm till 4am while she finished up preparations for work.

For a good six or seven years, she had entire control of the finances. I was on 10 000 a month allowance for a good part of that. No payment to her parents was even made during that time. I didn't know what was happening with the money, and neither would she let me know. My iTunes credit card purchases be damned were they to have actually make a difference on that, my feeling is they wouldn't have.

I go out once a year to the bar just to remind you, and I made sure to drink quite a bit at home so I'd just need a couple drinks uptown. Bar expenses are pretty minimal. 2000 yen for the night including both drinks at home and at the bar.

Have I given her any reason to make our relationship smoother? No, I haven't in the past few years. Prior to that I was doing everything to make it smoother.

To the be a man part. I don't know how long anyone would want to be a man. I have put in serious time cleaning up, like two to three full days. Most of it comes down to just how much clutter they have, that they don't want to bother sorting them out, and there's nowhere to put the clutter really. I mean within two days it's as if I hadn't spent any time cleaning.

What's amazing to me was her mother kept a right clean and organized house as well as working full time, and she put good food on the table for breakfast and dinner. But then she was never a pack rat and she would go into an room once every few months and really sort out and throw stuff away, I don't know what I can throw out or what I can't, I do know a lot of stuff I would've thrown out though, I just organize them as best I can (at the risk of throwing out something sentimental or with a slight possibility of being useful). My wife neither worked nor did housework.

The rest of that would really take a while to explain, and I'm not sure how you're reading all that and therefore why you are posting all that was. If you'd like to elaborate, then so shall I. I mean, what does 'Canadian with no university degree' have in relation with this thread?

@Steve Red - I had a girlfriend three years ago. That was after we had already agreed to a divorce. She had a boyfriend as well. If I remember correctly, I think I continued to date her after that, so I think you're right there. It was on council I got here that I didn't break it off, that council being I didn't know where things would go from there, so having a girlfriend might not be such a bad idea after all, and that it had been my wife first that started looking for another boyfriend.

@orochi - one of the saner posts. Kind of hard to sit down and decide on a budget when she refuses to let me know what's happening there, she gets a large portion of my money cause she has all the bank cards, and the companies I work for direct deposit.
 
Part of my misunderstanding of the 4am story centers around your strange and confusing way of writing:
"She'll say sorry and it'll never happen again, but then it does, like nights when I'd be stuck with no place to sleep on cold nights till 4am and then she laughingly tells me she just didn't want to be alone while she finished up preparing for work the next day."

For a good six or seven years, she had entire control of the finances. I was on 10 000 a month allowance for a good part of that. No payment to her parents was even made during that time. I didn't know what was happening with the money
My only response to this is "Why?"

Have I given her any reason to make our relationship smoother? No, I haven't in the past few years. Prior to that I was doing everything to make it smoother.
Like what? Does dating someone fall into that time frame? Bear with me with that sincerely honest question because most of the time I just can't follow you, whether you are explaining or asking for absolution.

To the be a man part. I don't know how long anyone would want to be a man. I have put in serious time cleaning up, like two to three full days.
You're joking if you think this is supposed to be a serious answer.

If you'd like to elaborate, then so shall I. I mean, what does 'Canadian with no university degree' have in relation with this thread?
Ok, fine. Perhaps saying Canadian was irrelevant. How about "immature foreigner with no university degree"? Does that clear things up?
 
@Orochi - one of the saner posts. Kind of hard to sit down and decide on a budget when she refuses to let me know what's happening there, she gets a large portion of my money cause she has all the bank cards, and the companies I work for direct deposit.

Take control. Talk with her until she shows you what is going on.

If that doesn't work, open a new bank account and ask your company to put your wages there each month.
 
My only response to this is "Why?"
I gave her control of the finances cause I was new to Japan and thought since she knew her way around she'd probably spend our money more wisely. Later I really wanted to know what was happening with my money, but she's just always refused to keep track of that. Why just 10 000? It was 20 000 yen before, but she argued till I simply gave in.
Like what? Does dating someone fall into that time frame? Bear with me with that sincerely honest question because most of the time I just can't follow you, whether you are explaining or asking for absolution.
Which time frame? After we had agreed to divorce and I was no longer as cooperative as before? Like as in the past few years, yes, dating another girl falls in that time frame. What was I doing before? Well in terms of trust, I only went out drinking once or twice a year when it was expected I go out with the company and students, and I'd be home by twelve. Aside from that, when I wasn't at work, I was at home.
You're joking if you think this is supposed to be a serious answer.
I'm not. Lets take one of the reasons my wife really wanted to move out of my parent-in-law's house. I often shaved and then didn't clean up perfectly in my rush to get to work. That small bit of hair drove my mother in law nuts, and we're talking very small amounts of hair here, small things like that can drive people nuts, especially if you live with it day in and day out, and that was my mother in law's take, and my wife got to hear about it rather than me, now in my case we're talking a mass of various bags filled with any assortment of things including perishable food, papers strewn all over, etc... and sure I spent two to three full days organizing everything as best I could on quite a few occasions, but say I'm just too tired to want to bother trying to clean up a few days, well it really reverted back to as if I hadn't spent two or three entire days cleaning. Annoys the hell out of me, and at the same time I just get so tired of it that I try finding solace doing other things, then when I can't find things I need, it becomes an issue brought to the forefront again, and I'll do another massive clean up. It didn't help any that she didn't work at that time and was thus just neglecting doing her part, and then pressed being told she didn't do that stuff cause she hadn't cared about me since the night I almost cheated on her.
Ok, fine. Perhaps saying Canadian was irrelevant. How about "immature foreigner with no university degree"? Does that clear things up?
Sort of, but how does the 'no University degree' figure into the issues in this thread?
 
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I gave her control of the finances cause I was new to Japan and thought since she knew her way around she'd probably spend our money more wisely. Later I really wanted to know what was happening with my money, but she's just always refused to keep track of that.
I understand the first point. I don't understand the latter point. The bank book shows (keeps track) of how the money is spent. Does she hide that from you?

Cleanliness.
Live in another person's house, and you live by their rules. Even if you think you left a small amount of hair, be a responsible guest/in-law and clean up. No excuses for being "in a hurry". None.
sure I spent two to three full days organizing everything as best I could on quite a few occasions, but say I'm just too tired to want to bother trying to clean up a few days, well it really reverted back to as if I hadn't spent two or three entire days cleaning. Annoys the hell out of me, and at the same time I just get so tired of it that I try finding solace doing other things, then when I can't find things I need, it becomes an issue brought to the forefront again, and I'll do another massive clean up.
As for the present situation, what I meant was that you seem to have written that a few days of you cleaning up was supposed to fix everything. Your wife obviously doesn't have her mom's clean bug. So what? You don't like it? You clean it yourself, not just for 3 days and call it quits, but clean it every damn day. That's called taking responsibility. Doesn't matter if it annoys you. Which is worse -- the mess or the cleaning up? Do a little at a time so you don't have to spend 2-3 days at it. (Geez, I can't believe I have to explain such an elementary thing to a grown man...)

how does the 'no University degree' figure into the issues in this thread?
What work are you doing now? What did you do in Canada? What sort of financial future is there in such work, either here or there? Getting my drift now?
 
Right, thinking on it, I think there are far reaching issues of trust on both sides, and I can't post one of my true issues cause that's just too personal. I am discontent and irresponsible in some areas of my life, now I feel I have real reason to be discontent in regards to a couple issues, but that gets back to the 'too personal' part. Trust me, about most things, I have little trouble discussing and even being condemned, criticized, or even ripped apart by people online. Mike refers to one of my 'my life is an open book' threads, and it's true, I lay it out, mostly cause my family isn't here, and even telling them my faults and feelings on this relationship in emails just gets a 'I hope it works out, and I'm sorry you're having to go through such difficulties', well except my bro who'd just would just say '**** her'.

My better friends who were here moved back to their respective home countries and do neither email nor facebook (I mean they have those, but they aren't terribly active with either). You can be certain that my wife's family take her side, and that's just sort of natural, but I have no where to attempt to both talk about my stresses nor get advice, so JREF has been better for that. Anyways appreciation for advice so far, and I'll think on it in terms of the whole picture.

In some ways I'm feeling I've been severely reprimanded by my wiser elders (sorry how that's termed, somehow it feels like what I would've standing in front of elders as a Native American so long ago), and with some things I agree, and some I still don't.

Glenski, I know my options in Japan and Canada, I don't think we need to get into that here. I don't see that you can offer advice there that I already don't know.
 
In some ways I'm feeling I've been severely reprimanded by my wiser elders
Gee! Ya think?!

and with some things I agree, and some I still don't.
That's pretty obvious. The bottom line is, what are you doing (and going to do) to change things around?

Glenski, I know my options in Japan and Canada, I don't think we need to get into that here. I don't see that you can offer advice there that I already don't know.
Hey, you are the one who came for advice. Don't kill the messenger just because you don't like it.

Sincerest best wishes for your future (and your family's).
 
Ack! Wish we had been there. Honestly both my son's harsh basketball schedule and my fear of harsh criticism convinced me not to go, but I now sort of wish I had. I am very wrong in some ways and I'm very not in others, I am completely convinced of that, but facing my seniors such as Mike Cash, Steve Red, and perhaps even Mars Man after being harshly criticized didn't seem like a prospect to look forward to. Perhaps I or all of us will make it there someday. At least I hope my son and I make it there someday, I'm sorry if I can't say I hope my wife makes it there, I see it as she's charming and I'm not, and therefore most will take her side were it to come to that discussion (even if it were all private, and charm is important but ultimately just that, charming, not always correct)... my son is awesome though.

Glad everyone enjoyed themselves anyways.
 
Revenant, I hate to sound rude but people are not that interested in all the drama that's going on in your marriage. It's not THAT special a situation in today's world. No one but the parties directly involved knows who's right and who's wrong, so if you are looking for a divorce court where all the jury members are on your side, this might not be for you. I can assure you, though, that you will be welcomed by all and have a great time at the meet if your reason for attending is just that : to have a great time!
 
Yep, no-one is perfect, since we're all humans. The main point is, as Ashikaga reminds us: at Mars Man's party, we simply choose to focus on having a great time!

It is highly recommended to leave any heavy emotional baggage at home when one flies to Mars! :)
 
... and therefore most will take her side were it to come to that discussion (even if it were all private, ...

As I believe others have mentioned (I wish to jump on this before reading further more carefully) IT WOULD NOT COME TO THAT, Revenent san, and that's really the whole point. At the annual JREF Meet in Shiga on Mars, we are in a non-earthly sphere where such matters are not on the agenda (most specifically... unless called up by the very person of any such focus).

I had really hoped you could have been there, but there is, for sure, NEXT YEAR !!!
 
Revenant, I hate to sound rude but people are not that interested in all the drama that's going on in your marriage. It's not THAT special a situation in today's world. No one but the parties directly involved knows who's right and who's wrong, so if you are looking for a divorce court where all the jury members are on your side, this might not be for you. I can assure you, though, that you will be welcomed by all and have a great time at the meet if your reason for attending is just that : to have a great time!
I can understand that, and coming on here I expected some strong criticism in my last thread, I didn't expect most everyone there to be jump in on the strong criticisms though. The entire reason for going would've been just enjoyment, but I don't see eye to eye with Mike nor even you Steve. I understand most of the criticisms and even the good intent on your part Steve, but that last thread would've detracted from what would've been just an enjoyable time. I'm only speaking honestly. Perhaps if it is just gaining new perspective or something else.. such stuff wouldn't keep me away. Perhaps I'll make it there another year.
 
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