Konnichiwa, Hookah Man

by Helene Goupil

Tal Shalif is an Israeli native who started traveling at age 19. Since then, he’s become an Australian citizen, lived in Japan for many years and is now working in France. While in Japan, Tal was known as “sheesha man” as he would hop on his bicycle with a water pipe in his backpack as soon as a fellow foreigner would call.

Tal also impressed his friends when he found a way to legally change his last name to Tanaka, a Japanese name so that he could get his official stamp like all Japanese residents. These stamps show the Chinese character for your last name and serve as an official signature.

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	Konnichiwa, Hookah Man
	by Helene Goupil Tal Shalif is an Israeli native who started traveling at age 19. Since then, he’s become an Australian citizen, lived in Japan for many years and is now working in France. While in Japan, Tal was known as “sheesha man” as he would hop on his bicycle with a water pipe in his backpack as soon as a fellow foreigner would call. Tal also impressed his friends when he found a way to legally change his last name to Tanaka, a Japanese name so that he could get his official stamp like all Japanese residents. These stamps show the Chinese character for your last name and serve as an official signature.				What are you doing right now? I am a little programmer in the corner who goes "blip, blip" every now and again. I work for a French company in Paris and there is no way you could make me criticize the system, its petty politics, arrogance nor the selfishness of the people around me. No sir! I love it here. What made you decide to move there? While the goddess of fortune was looking the other way, I went for a job interview in Tokyo which eventually lead to my being employed in the Paris Headquarters of the Japanese subsidiary. “If you are the president of the United States please note—you don't need to go to a language school if you are going to Ireland.” How was it when you first showed up? The red carpet—corporate accommodation for the first couple of months, visa processing help, etc. Paris is a beautiful city when you are in the mood to appreciate it. more >> << home
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A TRAVELER'S LIFE

Konnichiwa, Hookah Man

by Helene Goupil