As 2019 turned into 2022 and “covid 19” turned into just “covid”, it became increasingly clear that Japan was not going to let us in for the 2021-22 winter. This is sad news, because I have been eating sub-par rice for FAR TOO LONG.

Anyway, I wasn’t going to sit through another Australian summer. So instead, I packed my bags, donned my mask, stuck a PCR swab into the bottom of my brain and got on a flight to the US.