The Passport Has Arrived

After a three week wait, I received my new passport in the mail. The US embassy in Osaka offers the mail renewal service, so I didn’t even have to go into the embassy to get it taken care of. Very convenient, considering how important a document the passport is to people living overseas.

I was immensely relieved to get the passport – I kind of felt naked without it. Here in Japan I carry around an alien registration card, and that ensures that I would have no problem with Japanese authorities. However, I was pretty much stuck here without being able to leave (not that I have plans in the near future).

I’m sorry to have to retire my old passport. Now I have two old passports, each representing ten years of my life. You can really see by looking at the stamps when my life became a little more interesting! When we travel overseas one of the things I like to do while waiting in airport lines is to leaf through the passport and look at the stamps, visas, and scribbles from airport officials all over the place. Each stamp brings back some good memories. Now I’ll just be carrying around a vanilla passport – a blank slate!

The good news is that we’re now officially set for our trip to Singapore (second attempt) at the end of March, and so their stamp will grace page one of my new passport. Just a few months before we can eat, drink, and swim in warm temperatures. Can’t wait!


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