I have just read the stories of Asian women being attacked in Vancouver. I am saddened
beyond words and grieved deep into my soul.

Years ago when I still lived in Vancouver, I started my own English tutoring service,
and I had many young, beautiful Asian women as my students. These young ladies were
wonderful, kind, enthusiastic, eager to learn, generous, and a true joy to teach.
Though I have since moved on to full time teaching at a university now, I still look
back on those days as the greatest time that I ever had in teaching. I even met my wife
through my tutoring, and weve been happily married for 12 years now!

But now I do not think I could possibly do my tutoring today if I were to start up
again. Unfortunately, these creepy lowlifes who prey on Asian women are still around,
(I even had to pound two of them into the ground because they were bothering my
students) and they have surely ruined it for any legitimate tutor who wants to make a
difference in the lives of these good women. But now, not only are they caddishly
bothering them like they have always done, but they are actually attacking them!

So if I may, I would like to offer some advise for students out there, so they do not
get harmed.

1. Never go with an unsolicited tutor! Check out if your school has a list of legit
tutors out there. If a tutor has a good rep, then the language school will recommend
them.

2. Beware of posters on the street advertising tutoring services. I used this method
myself, but now I could never recommend it. These days, any weirdo can put up a poster.
Refer back to Rule #1.

3. Ask your friends and fellow students if they know of a good tutor. A good tutors
reputation travels fast, so surely someone knows someone.

4. Even when you get a recommended tutor, be sure to meet for the first few times in a
public, open place with plenty of people around. If the tutor tries to go
somewhere "quiet," do NOT go! Up to this point, the tutor may well have fooled
everyone. Build up trust first, on your own terms. You may also want some trusted
friends to come along with you, so they can check out the tutor themselves, and then
give you feedback.

5. And finally, do NOT date your tutor! Now this one may seem laughable but I am
serious. A tutor is a tutor, period. If he asks you out "for drinks afterward," then
run - do not walk - RUN to the nearest exit! If your tutor is falling in love with you,
or you with him, then please end the teacher-student relationship and then take it from
there. This is what I did with my wife, by the way, and it all worked out well!

In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims of these monsters,
and I hope that the ones not caught yet will be nabbed before they harm another. And to
the students, please be careful and safe.