You know, when I was a younger child and we had to move every three years, I, I, I really hated moving, because I got to make friends after three years, some really good friends, and then all of a sudden we're uprooted and we're off to new, new home, new country sometimes, a new military base. And you have to start from scratch in terms of meeting new people, meeting, making new friends, etc. And so as a younger child, I really didn't appreciate and understand that aspect of our life as as a as a young adult, and now as an older adult, I look back on that time as as a fantastic opportunity to visit different countries. For example, I was born in Germany, but we also lived in Japan when I was a small child and we got to experience some of the culture of the Japanese people. And... that's probably where I first developed my love for Japanese food was in Japan, because we would go to the Japanese night markets, we would catch the bullet train, you know, to Tokyo. We would get to play in the, in the Japanese arcades and, and, you know, all the fun stuff that you that you do as a kid. So I have very fond memories of Japan.
And then, you know, we moved back to Guam and so I had the opportunity to spend some time growing up as a child in Guam, you know, which I consider my, my-- we'll always consider my home because both of my parents are from Guam. And again, got to experience living on the island and learning the culture and the customs of of of, you know, being back home in Guam. The Chamorro culture. The native term for Guamanian is Chamorro. And then we also moved-- again we, we were a different military base here in the United States. We were in Alaska for a short period. We were up in... after Alaska, we settled into the Sacramento area for a little bit, and then we moved down to Southern California, the San Bernardino area, for, for a little bit. And then we moved back to Japan. I'm sorry. We moved back to Germany, and again had the experience to live in Europe as a young teenager. And then I forget, my sister, my younger sister was born in Kentucky, so we can't forget living in Kentucky for a little bit, little bit of time.
And so when I reflect on that time period now as an adult, what an incredible opportunity to to visit different parts of the United States in different parts of the world and experience those different cultures. And I-- again, I think one of the positive aspects of of moving every three years is that, I did, or at least for me personally, develop a personality where I am I'm a little more outgoing in and I have no problem going up to people and saying, introducing myself, and asking about them, and kind of making fast friends. And so I think learning about new cultures and and being open minded and being accepting of different people has had a very positive impact on me personally and also professionally. Obviously, some of the negatives where you don't get to build roots in one particular community and when you were growing up and and sometimes you know that-- that has its drawbacks.
But, you know, overall, I'm grateful for the opportunity that my father's career had in terms of taking us around the world. Because if not for, for his military service and our opportunity to move to these different countries, I probably wouldn't have moved there and experienced those cultures, and the people. And, and again, another aspect is I love to travel as much as I can these days, and to visit new countries. And so all in all, I think an overall positive impact, in my opinion. We were able to learn some basic Japanese and you know, as a kid, one of the real basic phrases that we learned was, you know, how much is this item? For example, 'How much is this toy?' or 'How much is this comic book?' And so I you know, I always remember the term 'Ikura' ['how much?'] and, you know-- so we learned little phrases like that as as-- as as we were traveling to the different countries to to try and interact with the locals. You know, in Germany, you know, 'Gutten Tag,' in Guam 'Hafa Adai.' And so we-- because I was a child and it was a long time ago now, a lot of you know the different languages or at least the different phrases and greetings that I knew back then don't come as easily, or readily, but... again, it it opened up my eyes to being again more open and being more flexible, to-- to try and communicate with people and try to understand.
And so actually one of the positives that has on my life now as a judge is that we have people that come into my courtroom where English is not their first language. And so whether it's, you know, Chinese, or whether it's Korean, or whether it's Tagalog, or or Spanish or Vietnamese... You know, I have a greater appreciation, understanding of of, you know, understanding that the English may not be their first language. And so we need to have interpreters or translators help them in the system. And in that process of using translators and interpreters, we have to be patient so that words can be properly translated, meanings can be properly translated to to the litigants that come into my courtroom.