Today I met up with Kuniko at Sannomiya station in Kobe after lunch to kill some time before the wedding second party we were attending. Kuniko was invited to the party by the bride. They met each other a long time ago and have been in touch ever since. Kuniko didn’t know anybody else at the party, so she asked if she could bring her husband and the bride said “no problem”.
We had some time to kill before the party began, so we walked up to Kuniko’s school so she could take care of some little stuff. While she was in the staffroom I was hanging out in the hallway, attracting the attention of some students. I always feel a little weird being at the school because it is a girl’s school, but luckily there weren’t that many students walking around.
After that we had a coffee at a little coffee house on the way back from Kuniko’s school – a dark wooden restaurant with an interesting decor. It was called “Sallow”, with is kind of an interesting name. I’d sum up the experience as “interesting”.
We also hit the Daimaru department store in Motomachi before heading back to Sannomiya and on to the party. It was at a really nice location – and from the beginning it felt really upscale. From what I understand, the wedding second party (and third, fourth and every party that night) is supposed to be pretty casual, but this seemed exactly like our first party. Everyone was really dressed up and the seating was pretty formalized.
We sat at a table with five other people. All the other people at our table were women, and I got the feeling that the four women on my left were really nervous about having me around. The other lady at the table was also there without knowing anyone else and she was pretty friendly.
The bride and groom made their grand entrance, and they looked great. Kuniko commented that the groom and all his friends were really good looking, and she was right. Maybe they are all in modeling or something. Even though it was kind of formal they played some games and they even did a scavenger hunt for prizes. Kuniko and I both took home a prize, but we weren’t as lucky as before – no big winners for us.
The food was great – I went through the line three times loading up on chow. The beer was also flowing freely, so I drank as much as I could within the time that they had allotted for the party.
One really cool thing that impressed me was when we met the bride and groom. The groom was really nice – he asked me where I came from in Japanese, and then thanked me coming to the party in English. At the end of the party as we left he also spoke to me briefly in English to say goodbye and thanking us for enjoying the party with them. Very cool – I know that there’s a lot to worry about on your wedding day without having to think up what to say in English to one of your guests.
After we left the party we still felt like we had a little more energy in us, so Kuniko suggested that we go up to a bar that is a favorite of Mori sensei from her school. The bar was called “The New York”, a New York themed bar that had a really good atmosphere. I didn’t see any foreigners there, so that was a good start. We had a couple drinks and just relaxed and took in the evening, and then we headed to the train station.
By the time we got home we were both tired out from traveling all over, so we crashed out on the early side. Tomorrow we both have the day off, so it’s time to recharge the batteries.
