Becoming a Canadian

When I relocated to Canada from Japan for work (in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic), I immediately fell in love with the country, especially for its beautiful nature and rich craft beer culture. Thus, I have seriously built my life and career here for the last couple of years, by changing an employer to one having a greater presence in town, getting a permanent residency, becoming a self-employed business owner, and serving as a Canadian international volunteer. At the same time, as an immigrant, there are a lot of things I have learned from the country's complex history and diverse population. This series tracks my journey to establish life in Canada as a software developer and demonstrates what being a resident of Canada means to us, both culturally and professionally.

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Articles in this series

  1. Moving to Canada: Adding Randomness to My Life
  2. Next "Dot" in Journey: Curiosity-Driven Job Change in Canada (Aug 2021)
  3. Voting for 2021 #BCAleTrail Best Brewery Experience Award
  4. Learning Canada's History
  5. Starting with Empathy to #GetReal, Beat Loneliness, and Be Ethical. #MentalHealthWeek
  6. Becoming Permanent Resident of Canada
  7. Indigenous Canada: Storytelling, Community, and Sustainability
  8. Paddling in the Life, and Currently I'm a Freelance Software Developer
  9. Reviewing Things I Do Not Know About the Indian Act #NDTR
  10. My First Month as Self-Employed
  11. Connecting the Dots in Complexity
  12. Starting Field Study on How Information Flows in Malawi
  13. I'm Not "China"—Connecting HERE and THERE in Systems
  14. The End of the Beginning—What I Talk About When I Talk About Malawi

  Author: Takuya Kitazawa

Takuya Kitazawa is a freelance software developer, previously working at a Big Tech and Silicon Valley-based start-up company where he wore multiple hats as a full-stack software developer, machine learning engineer, data scientist, and product manager. At the intersection of technological and social aspects of data-driven applications, he is passionate about promoting the ethical use of information technologies through his mentoring, business consultation, and public engagement activities. See CV for more information, or contact at [email protected].