My roommate Chuck returned home yesterday.

He and I arrived in Japan on the same day—on the same plane, in fact. But we were assigned to different schools, and whereas I get along reasonably well at Narimasu, Chuck found the work environment at Kawagoe to be punishing and arbitrary. The straw that broke the camel's back was Nova Kids' training: an eight-hour seminar, subsequent to which he was immediately thrust into a classroom with seven screaming children. A former QA engineer from Los Gatos, Chuck decided this was not quite the Japan experience he was hoping for, and turned in his one-month's notice shortly thereafter.

He was a good guy, and as my remaining roommate Craig will attest, nice roommates are always a pleasant surprise when you work for Nova. True to their reputation, Nova has already reassigned Chuck's old room, this time to a Canadian who arrives on September 4.

Our thoughts are with you, Chuck. With any luck, California's current tech economy will prove less intimidating than a roomful of Japanese toddlers.