Thanks for that. It's easy to feel out of touch with one's homeland as an ex-pat. It's also very apt as Remembrance Day is coming. As I did last year, I will be attending this year's ceremony at the Commonwealth cemetery in Yokohama. The Canadian embassy is organizing the event this year, so I made it a point to make it out.

Since I left Canada I've become more familiar with the faces and scenes depicted on the Japanese yen notes -- I can tell you who the people are and what they are known for, and yet, if you asked me (prior to reading this post) what was on the back of a Canadian tenner, not only would I not have known, but I'd be clueless as to the history and background behind it as well.

Sometimes I feel like I'm becoming a man without a country. Canada has become foreign to me, and Japan will never adopt me as their own. Hmmm.

In any event, thanks for posting that.