Love is...

Back...what seems like forever ago, but was really only a few years ago, I was sitting in Japanese class - a mere Freshman in college.

My teacher asked us if anyone was interested in finding a language partner. I put my name on her list and a week later got an e-mail address from her. Some Japanese girl named Yuki was studying at my school's ESL program and was looking for an English/Japanese exchange.

We eventually started meeting once a week to practice our respective foreign languages. Two years later, I transferred schools and she, soon after, headed back to Japan. But when we said our goodbyes, we promised that someday we would meet again...only in her hometown, instead of mine.

I promised her most sincerely but doubted even more sincerely that I would actually find myself ever meeting her in Kyoto.

And yet...three days ago, I returned from Kyoto after attending her wedding.

Life is strange, isn't it?

Attending a Japanese wedding was a phenomenal, unforgettable experience. It was an incredible gift to be invited and I was the only foreigner in the entire place. However, it was also very...very...kitchy.
I don't know how else to describe it.

The entire event was accompanied by corny English music (like "Lovin' you is easy cause you're beautiful..."), there were suited women wearing ear pieces who followed the bride and groom around giving them direct instructions on how to do everything and there was even an MC who narrated, interviewed and cracked jokes. All of this amidst deep Japanese tradition. Aside from that, it was just amazing to see how brief and unceremonious the wedding was and...how the bride and groom didn't kiss...ONCE. Not once.

I just didn't know what to make of it all. So I tried not to make anything of it. Instead, I took lots of pictures, applauded heartily at every opportunity and reveled in the strangeness of it all....

The pictures are here So...revel with me, if you care....

At last...

Like someone waking you from a deep sleep, their voice just beginning to pull you from an icy nightmare, so Spring is whispering in my ear...

It isn't here yet, but I can hear it in the occasional warm breeze, the gathering strength of the sun, the ever increasing daylight, the birth of blossoms on trees. How long have I been asleep...?

As I am pulled from my wintery slumber, my calendar is beginning to fill up again. This weekend, my friend Yumi from Tokyo came to visit. She is my kindred spirit and I found it difficult to come home after work to an empty apartment...
Next weekend, Dawn and I will be partaking in a Mochi making party (mochi being a thin, sticky rice cake) at the International Center. Then the next weekend, I'm off to Kyoto to attend the traditional Japanese wedding of my dear friend Yuki! And a few weeks later...it's off to...Korea! Another good friend of mine, Mika, and I have planned a 4 day excursion in Seoul. And of course, the following month...my Mother is coming!!

But...like Spring, the adventures have yet to come, and so I only have one new thing to report. After much consideration, I have extended my contract in Japan for one month if for no other reason than to finish up at the same time as Dawn. However, it is my sincere hope that with some avid saving, I will be able to attend a 3 month intensive Japanese language program in Tokyo. I have come all the way to Japan to spend my days speaking...English. I'd like to walk away feeling like I've improved my Japanese just a little. The programs are varied and not overly expensive. However, housing in Japan is another problem. So if anyone knows of a cheap place to stay in Tokyo just...um...let me know.

Happy Valentine's Day... <3