When Jathen Escobal was 7 years old, he moved from Japan to California. Now, as a sophomore at Armijo High School, he remembers how different living in Japan was. In Japan, Escobal said that the people were very considerate people, with nice manners.

Moving from Japan to America, even at a young age, was a challenge. “It was really hard because it was a new school, new people and I didn’t know anybody over here,” said Escobal. It’s not that it was bad, however, just “kind of weird” to learn and adapt to a foreign country and a new language. This made it hard to make friends.

In Japan, Escobal went to a Department of Defense school since he came from an Air Force family, and that meant that there were other kids there from America. That meant that the American influence was there, but he still remembers that his school in Japan seemed nicer than the schools he’s attended in California.

There are some other differences between the two cultures that Escobal remembers. He described the media in Japan as “more weirder.” He once a saw a guy on the television say, “Oh, you can win this if you throw some picture in like an oven.” His favorite media in Japan is anime and mangas, the figurines and posters.

Even the weather is different between the two regions. “I remember [in Japan] there were a lot of storms and there was one time, it was really bad,” he said. “There were thunderstorms that the power went out.”

While he’s been in the United States for more than half his life, he still has some regrets about moving. Escobal prefers the foods in Japan. “The foods over there were really good,” he said.

Escobal misses Japan and wishes that he can move back there. His favorite memory from when he was in Japan was when he was 5 years old and went jetskating with his dad, which he said was very fun.