[squirell nutkin]

I had taken a few comparative religion classes in HS and College, and Zen seemed to resonate with me more. Perhaps it was the austerity of the practice as expressed by the Japanese. It wasn't until much later in my life that I met Zen Buddhists who practiced with Chinese and Vietnamese teachers. Their expression of Zen is much different. Culturally, Zen tends to take the shape of the container it's in.

I was also very interested in Japan and all things Japanese throughout my teens and twenties. Erroneously, I equated Zen with Japan.

Tibetan Buddhism always seemed out of reach to me, it seemed like a practice for Tibetans, there is a ton of ritual and mystery and ornamentation. Maybe coming from Catholicism that might have put me off, subconsciously.

Again, I was much more familiar with the Zen aesthetic in art, martial arts, tea ceremony, pottery, etc so it wasn't so completely bewildering. At first.

There are lots of other schools of Buddhism and many schools within Zen and Tibetan.
It's not unlike that there are many branches of Christianity.