As a few of you may already know, Sarah and I are moving to Japan next month and we just received our visas last week! We are so excited! The last hurdle for our move to Japan has been completed and we still have so much to do!
For those of you for whom this news may be a surprise, my wife Sarah submitted an application last year for a fellowship to study abroad in Japan, with a focus on urban shrinkage and population redistribution. This year in May, she finally heard back that she was awarded the fellowship! A few weeks later, she received more news that she was also rewarded a fellowship in Germany to study the same subject. As I was about to come up on twenty years in the US Coast Guard, we made the decision that I would retire from the service and we both would go live abroad for the next year!
So for the past few months, we have been crossing our I’s, dotting our T’s and getting our ducks in a row to prepare for the move. My last day in the Coast Guard is coming up on February 7th. Sarah is transitioning in the new executive director at the non-profit that she runs and will be done on February 14th. We will be putting our possessions into storage and heading North for a few weeks to visit our families before crossing the Pacific and starting our newest chapter in Tokyo.
One of the most common questions that I get asked once I tell people our future plans is “What are you going to do, Foster?” Most of the time, I have told them that I am going to start studying to become a ninja or give shoulder rides to the Japanese at Shinjuku Crossing. But the most common reply has been that I am going to eat a lot of ramen and blog about it. Recently I decided that this is exactly what I am going to do!
I am planning on documenting my time in Japan, Germany and wherever else Sarah and I end up in the next year or so. My idea is to make the majority of the posts on this site about food and restaurants where we eat, as well as talk about the travels we undertake over the next year. We are planning a few trips around southeast Asia, as well as doing some bicycle touring in Japan (hence the Bike Pedals!). From time to time, I will also post about whatever is tickling my fancy on that day. I am hoping that Sarah will make some guest appearances on here, whenever she can get away from her studies. I hope that you come by from time to time to read and keep up with the adventures that we get into.
Foster