This is a question I get asked a lot! Many people in Japan are often curious about my reasons for coming here. I didn't really know any Japanese people when I lived in Canada. I'm from the eastern part of the country. That's near Europe, and it's very far away from Asia. So there aren’t a lot of people from Japan there. But I liked languages. I studied French during my Canadian school years. And then I also studied Spanish a little bit, after I moved to the United States. Sometimes I would borrow or buy other languages books, too. One day, my brother introduced me to his new girlfriend. She was Canadian, but she had come to Japan for 2 years to teach English. When she found out I was interested in languages, she suggested I learn Japanese!!
I remember starting to watch old Japanese movies after my brother’s girlfriend told me about Japan. There were often samurai or geisha in those movies. I applied for a job to teach English in Japan, and I was accepted. But when I arrived in Tokyo to begin my training, I was so surprised. I didn’t see any samurai or geisha there at all!!! Japanese men usually wore western-style business suits, and Japanese ladies were very stylish. The women’s clothes were quite fashionable. I guess I should have watched more modern movies about Japan. Ha ha ha…
The picture here shows the clothes that some Japanese people maybe wore a long time ago, but when I came to Japan I didn't find anyone wearing kimonos or samurai clothing. I think that I was a little disappointed at first. However, at Japanese festivals we can sometimes see these kinds of traditional clothes. I really like festivals in Japan because past history is very important. A festival is a sort of "celebration" of customs or traditions from a really long, long time ago. Japan keeps these old customs alive in this way. That's why I love living here now. Canada and America don't have the same kind of long history, so I think North Americans have lost a part of ourselves by not really honoring the past.
And another reason I am happy in Japan is because of the delicious food! Before I traveled to this country, I tried to eat some sushi in a Japanese restaurant. But the restaurant was in the eastern United States, and I think the owners might not actually have been Japanese. The sushi didn't taste so good. I got a little bit of a stomach ache when I ate it. Probably my body was just not used to eating raw food like that. I didn't give up, though!! I continued trying Japanese food a few times when I lived in North America. I found some more delicious restaurants, and my stomach started becoming happier because the food was usually very fresh. Then when I finally arrived in Japan and began to live here, I found out Japanese restaurants in Japan are sooo yummy! These days I love sushi, and tonkatsu, and tempura, and many other kinds of Japanese food.
But of course, I still often eat western food now and then. Kentucky Fried Chicken is my favorite!! Please don't tell my birds about this. ;)
- Peter 
