Noriko Cullen

I was born in Yokohama, Japan. My father is a civil engineer and my mother is working at the library. I have two sisters. I am the middle child. They married several years ago and have children. Grandfather from my father’s side lived with us. He passed away when I was ten years old. I was shocked, because it was my first experience having somebody whom I knew pass away. I often stayed with grandparents from my mother’s side while my mother was taking care of my younger sister. I had a favorite store near their house. I went there and bought stationery that had cute characters.
I met my best friend Satomi in high school. We went to Australia for a year when we were 20 years old. We studied English and traveled many beautiful places there. We had a wonderful time and a great experience. I went to a beauty school in yokohama and became hairstylist. I hated the job. I always worked. I did not have enough days off and could not spend time with friends and family.
I love the beach. I like to do boogie boarding. I like to travel a lot. I have been to Thai, Saipan, Hawaii, Korea and Mexico. I sometimes went to Indonesia for surfing. I had a terrible stomachache, and I worried if I had gotten a serious disease. I recovered after a few days and enjoyed the rest of my trip.
In 2003, I moved to the U.S.A. from Japan, because I wanted to try something different. I went to the ESL school in Los Angeles for a year. I worked at a beauty salon 6 to 7 days a week in Torrance, L.A. It was as tiring as working in Japan. Nevertheless, I made many friends and missed them after I moved to Ventura in 2006.
I met my husband in 2003 in L.A. through our friends. We married in May 2006. He is a mechanical engineer in an aerospace company. I am happy to see him enjoying his job a lot. I work as a hairstylist five days a week in midtown Ventura. I enjoy working more than ever. We like Ventura and want to buy a house here someday.