What are you doing November 20th? Anything? Is your schedule free? How about jumping on a plane and coming to Japan to see a bewildered foreigner getting married to a beautiful girl? Always wanted to try raw octopus on rice? See girls ride bicycles wearing a skirt? Eat sushi for a third of the price you pay in the states? Now’s your chance to come to Japan!
So Kuniko made the reservation last night, and it appears they have space, so we’re on.
This will be a real East meets West wedding, especially considering the differences in culture and expectations. Although the wedding will be “Western Style”, it’s still pretty different from any wedding you’ve seen in the states. No groom’s party, no bridesmaids – and that’s just the beginning. Two words – “Gold Tuxedo”.
I’m sure there will be a contingent of folks coming to Japan for the wedding, and so working out the logistics for that should be an adventure in itself. Still, if you were ever thinking about going to Japan, maybe it’s a good time to get serious. Horse sushi!
The countdown begins!
Anyway, my day was nothing to write home about, but that’s not stopping me. I did a jog around Ito Yokado this morning, and I enjoyed the thick fog layer that kept the temperatures up.
At school I just had one class, but Mr. Hayashi asked me to help with Ms. Miyake’s English lesson. Strangely enough, I ended up reading a Japanese article to her, and they told me that somehow it was helping her English. Oh, well – I need the practice.
After school we had a mandatory staff meeting. There was a big argument, which is really strange for a Japanese meeting. Usually all the sensitive points are dealt with before, and the meeting just serves to rubber stamp the decision. Today tempers were flaring over the school trip. Some teachers think it takes too much time from study and sports. Others think it’s just a way to subsidize Japan’s travel agent industry. I didn’t really have an opinion, but some people there did, and they let it loose. I ended up leaving at five o’clock, and they were still going. We should have some interesting fallout tomorrow.
I went to Azusa’s place for her lesson, and she was unusually animated today. She has finished up her college term and is enjoying two months without lessons – except for mine. She’s doing an internship with a local political group. One of the things she is working on is the upcoming Kyoto Treaty – it’s a big deal here, and right now lots of foreigners have come to Kyoto to have discussions about it. She spent yesterday showing around a couple of foreigners from Nepal and China. She got to speak a little English with them – and she said it went well. Very cool.
Anyway, her lesson went really well and we had lots of discussion time on topics ranging from the amount of homework teacher’s give, to gay marriage, and even the rights of Koreans born in Japan. It was interesting for both of us, and I left the place with more energy than I had going in.
I stopped on the way home at Carrefour to do some shopping for the poker party tomorrow. It looks to be a small group – only three people. That’ll make it tough for poker, but there is still an outside chance that one or two more people will come.
Kuniko called tonight and I spent some time with her. She had to make a tough decision tonight about her employment situation. She was kind of balancing job security with her own personal happiness. We talked it over, and I think she came to the right decision.
