A beach bum based primarily out of Waikiki, Carl has cleverly deceived friends and acquaintances into believing his self-stylings as a would-be philosopher and raconteur at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. From 2004 to 2006, he posed as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program in distant Toyama prefecture, an area best known for heavy snows, cheap electricity, and a crippling bone disease called itai-itai byo (literally, ouch ouch disease).