Business humor and jokes, including humorous stories, experiences, and articles

In my zealousness, I sent off my first attempt at humor but forgot to introduce myself. If you happened to have seen my other blog at www.panasianbiz.com then you will recognize the intro.

I came in on the tail end of the baby boom behind two older brothers and two older sisters, 3 of which were WWII babies.  Meaning, I am old enough to have been around the block a few times, but young enough to have a few more trips left in me. My name is Bill Belew

I first went to Asia on Uncle Sam's dime. After nearly 5 years in the Navy where I eventually served as an Intelligence Officer for a Destroyer Squadron ( I could tell you some secrets, but then I'd have to kill you) I settled in Japan and lived there for almost 20 years. While there I started a language school for Japanese www.svecs.com . It grew to five branches in Japan and one on the west coast of the US. More about all of that in subsequent posts. 

Also, while there, I started a collection of 'clean jokes' that I thought would translate across cultures. Trust me when I say humor does NOT always translate. I can tell the same joke to a Chinese and a Japanese and the Chinese will roll on the floor while the Japanese just looks at me. One is not better than the other, they are different.

I moved back to the states about 5 years ago and now live in the Bay Area of San Jose (Yes, I know the way.) I teach classes f2f for a vocational school and online for a national university.

My wife is (Made in China) from mainland China and holds an MBA from a California State University. We often discuss the differences in culture and business practices among China, the US and Japan. Sound interesting? It is to us.

I have two boys. The older one, Benjamin, is an award winning professional classical pianist in Japan. The younger one, Micah, is a US National Swim Champion.

I used to run triathlons and ultramarathons. I could also be seen hanging off the side of a mountain...or making my way up it as a rock climber. Now I am on a marathon trip as I try to climb back into shape.

In my free time (what free time?) I write non-fiction short stories. You can read some of them at www.writingup.com/blog/wcbelew .

I look forward to sharing with you from my clean joke collection and from others that I can find. I assure you they will be clean.

If you have a good story, true or otherwise, and clean, please feel free to share. If something I write is funny, let me know. If its not, then tell me how I could make it funnier.

Bill