Introduction

For those of you who do not know, Bill took a course on border studies as one of his final courses in his Masters of Public Administration Program. Given that he had a little bit of knowledge on the subject and some practical experience in the area (i.e. being Ministerial Assistant/Chief of Staff to the Minister of Intergovernmental Relations for two years), and that he wrote a pretty cool paper on the development of the Enhanced Driver's Licence in British Columbia, his prof suggested he apply to come to a conference on border issues in Sapporo Japan. Bill applied and was accepted to be one of 16 graduate and doctoral students from around the world to participate. Needless to say it was quite an honour and Bill feels quite humbled, but is also excited and confident about the experience.

for more information on the conference, here is the agenda: http://www.borderstudies.jp/en/events/workshops/index.htm#100730

Well, about the same time Bill was notified about the conference he and April were struggling to figure out what to do for a vacation. When this opportunity came along, we stopped looking at cruisecheap.com and jumped at the chance of exploring Japan. Given work demands, April decided to stay in Canada until August 4th, when she makes her way to Sapporo. Bill's conference ends on August 5. Then, these two intrepid explorers will begin a month long expedition across Japan.

Stayed tuned for updates. This should be educational, entertaining, and exciting.