Hello there! 👋
We are in the final days. In a little over a week I will be heading back over the Pacific Ocean to the Greater Vancouver Area, while far below on a ship 18 boxes full of everything will be following along.
In the past when we left Japan we could always leave some stuff at my parents-in-law’s. But with no one left here, we have to take everything. (Believe me, we got rid of a lot more than what ended up in these boxes!). It is my first “root-and-branch” international move, the biggest ever.
In our last few weeks, in between packing and other prep, we have been trying to make some last visits to places around Osaka. We visited Mt Maya and Kobe Chinatown; I took a trip on my own to Kyoto to see a few temples and have a final dinner with a friend; my wife and I hiked up to Minooo Falls; and then we took one more trip to Kyoto yesterday to attend a temple ceremony on the anniversary of my father-in-law’s passing two years ago — the original reason for us coming to Japan this time. We met with some cousins in the evening for dinner and said some final farewells. It got a bit misty, I will admit.
On top of packing 18 boxes for the ship, plus 8 pieces of luggage for the plane, plus the final days of school, plus moving out of our apartment, plus the last minute day trips, we have had the extra stress of dealing with my wife’s return visa to Canada. As a Permanent Resident it is not as simple as hopping on a plane: she has to get a special travel document. In what was likely a cost-cutting decision a few years ago Canada centralized all visa processing capabilities in Asia… to offices in Philippines. Yes, that’s right, the Consular offices here in Japan have no visa issuing capabilities anymore. So in the final weeks of us being here we had to courier my wife’s passport to Manila. This induced a nail-biting few weeks. Luckily, the passport arrived safe and sound late last week, with about 12 days to spare. Phew!
HOWEVER… as I often harp on about centralized vs decentralized computing in my day job, centralization offers efficiencies at the cost of resilience. The day after the passport arrived we received this from Immigration Canada:
Please be advised that the visa issued to you has been cancelled due to an administrative error. Therefore, it is not valid for travel. We are requesting you to re-submit your passport… [or] You may come to Embassy of Canada to the Philippines, in Manila on: Date: July 5, 2024
The Canadian government likely saved costs centralizing operations, but the cost of their errors are borne by individuals (this has always been the way of course, but it is getting worse I fear). Likely my wife will have to stay in Japan for an extra couple of weeks in hotels and rebook her flight to Canada at great extra expense… all for an “administrative error” that a few years ago would have been solved with a simple subway ride to the local embassy here in Osaka.
Sorry to end this letter on such a down note. Next month I will be writing you from our new location in Canada, where we will have completed our move, hopefully been reunited, and the conference week I have been helping to organize in Vancouver called LOCALHOST will be complete. Phew! 💦💦💦
Talk to you in a few weeks.
Chad
🖋 From the Blog
Recognize the ills, let's do better — Short summary of "Imagination: A Manifesto"
A book about how realizing our “radical interdependence” can make us unleash our “radical imagination”.
Jiufen
Part 3 of my ongoing Taiwan travelogue
🧭 Elsewhere
🥮 Kobe Chinatown and Port Photos →
🚠 Visiting Mt Maya Photos →
⛰️ Hiking Minooo Falls Photos →
This is the way Link →
AMAZE 😍💅🧝♀️🧝♂️👑💍 Video →
(From my Tech Policy community) A report on how AI is quietly controlled by Big Tech Link →
The host of the Chronicles of Japan visited Iki and recorded a podcast about it! Link →
📖 What I’m Reading
Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
(24% Complete)
I am in the middle of two book series right now: Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law and Adrian Tchaikovsky’s The Final Architecture. I am taking a little break by reading the next book in the Temeraire series, which I enjoy a lot because I love Master & Commander and about the only thing that could make that series better is dragons! 🐉
Connect with me on GoodReads → or on Bookwyrm →