First off, Happy New Year's everyone! Hope you had a fun and safe holiday season.
Next, I'll get to the point - I am now currently engaged.
After waking up a bit late, we both went out to Arashiyama and took a walk around the Tenryuji temple. For dinner, I took her to a very high-class teppanyaki restaurant on the 17th floor of a fancy hotel overlooking Kyoto city. By this point, she said it was already the best Christmas she'd ever had. I told her I wasn't done yet.
The last part of my plan took us to Kyoto Station. The large sprawling station features romantic lights and a huge Christmas tree. You can also go up to the 11th floor of the station where there's a sky garden overlooking the city. Originally, I'd planned to do it there, but the day was kind of overcast, and then actually looking at it, you kind of come to realize that from an aerial view, Kyoto isn't that pretty. We both went down to the steps near the base of the tree and exchanged our presents. After receiving her gift, I did my proposal. ...Which she actually didn't answer immediately, as she became a crying mess as she marveled over the ring.
With the cat out of the bag, I began to explain all of my "suspicious" behaviors over the past few months. She was shocked, truthfully so. Regarding the oranges and Mister Donuts, she said "I'd thought that you had the same taste in donuts as my mom...but I figured that was just coincidence! I was going to buy you some donuts too!" She phoned her mom, who revealed that she'd been in on in the plan since November. "Okay, now a lot more things make sense now!" she marveled, referring to a phone call she'd made earlier that weekend.
Y'see, the proposal almost didn't happen.
Okay, I'm over-dramatizing it a bit, but going into Christmas Eve weekend...well, we started things off with a fight. Chalk it up to bad cosmic timing or whatever, but the girlfriend was PMS'ing HARD going into that weekend. I think I've mentioned it before, but her PMS is pretty much the Devil Trigger Bitch From Hell mode. My girlfriend on PMS could never be a Disney villain, because she would frighten children. The next time Jack Bauer needs vital information from a stubborn terrorist, he should just lock the terrorist in a room with my PMS'ing girlfriend for 5 minutes.
So Friday night, I was out late and didn't properly communicate with her. Yes, that's my mistake. I came home and apologized for my mistake. And, under normal circumstances, she would accept my apology and all would be well. But while Devil Trigger'd, my apology only served to further piss her off. I told her I was wrong and I didn't want to fight, and it was like I'd punched her directly in the face. Realizing that I could literally do no right, I decided to spend the night on the couch, playing Devil May Cry 3 until I fell asleep - at least this was one Devil Trigger that worked for me, not against.
The following Saturday I had to go to work. Yes, that wasn't a typo - I did in fact type "Saturday" and "work" in the same sentence. Ah, the glory days of JET. When work ended at 4:15, and the only weekend work was sports day. When, while even at work, you could slip off to the gym for a nap and nobody would notice. When you got paid too much for working too little. Ah, those were the good 'ol days.
Anyway, I was at work on Saturday, but I planned on going to dinner with my girlfriend in Kobe afterwards. The plan was that I would wrap up around 3PM, she'd meet me in Osaka, and we'd go from there. That was the plan; however, by 3 I wasn't finished with work. And it wasn't something I could have blown off to Monday, no. It was something I honestly should have finished by Friday. I called my girlfriend and tried to explain this, but with her already steaming over Friday's events, it was only like throwing a nice, greasy meatball sandwich into an open fire. When I finally did meet up with her, around 6PM...let me put it this way - if looks could kill, every negro that ever existed would be dead, right down to Kunta Kinte. Shit you not.
Frederick: You know 'ol fellow, I just had the strangest thought.
Steven: Whatever could it be?
Frederick: I just dreamed of a race of people with chocolate-mahogany skin, large eyes, thick, curly hair, and are unusually good at athletics.
Steven: My, what a fascinating daydream! However did you come up with that idea?
Frederick: It's like, they once existed in a universe not uncommon to our own, but in a sudden moment of pure, unrivaled evil they were blinked right out of existence.
Steven: Dearest Frederick, you do have quite the frightful imagination. Perhaps you should lay off the opium for awhile?
Frederick: Heavens to betsy no!
Anyway, I didn't really feel like going to dinner with her like that...much less proposing to her two days later. In a state of semi-panic, I emailed her Mom for help - the Mom had said that if I ever needed anything, never hesitate to call upon her for advice. And if this wasn't a time to raise my Sword of Omens in the air and exclaim "HOOOOOOOOOOOO!", then I simply don't know what is. Ironically, I had just finished sending my email when my girlfriend picked up her phone to complain to her Mom about what a terrible boyfriend I am.
Now, I'm not sure what exactly the Mom said to my girlfriend...but imagine, you know that your daughter is about to get proposed to in two days, then you get an email from her fiance-to-be begging you for help, and then not even 5 seconds later your daughter calls to complain that her boyfriend is breathing in a manner she doesn't approve of. Whatever she said, I'm sure it was nothing short of EPIC. The girlfriend calms down considerably, we work things out, and the rest of the night goes smoothly. ...Well, there was a rain and wind storm in Kobe, so things went as smoothly as they can go with God trying to blow you right off the face of the planet.
I was worried about the weather for the actual proposal day, but although it stayed overcast, it didn't rain on my parade. If nothing else, it was a relief to get it off my chest, and explain away all the little behaviors that she could only see as suspicious over the past two months. I have to say, I've never seen any human being as happy as my girlfriend was when I dropped to one knee, brought out the ring, and popped the question. That alone lets me know that I've made the right decision.
Of course, now, girlfriend has flipped into 100% MARRIAGE MODE. You may remember something I said in the "Show Me The Honey" editorial, which marks my first date with this girl (and ironically enough, my students prediction of our marriage)....
Note to all you potential male Japanophiles out there - marriage is a big deal to a lot of Japanese women, and as such a lot of them tend to move kinda fast. I mean breakneck speed, GO SPEED RACER GO!! fast. Be careful.
She'd been doing fairly well with the whole M-business, up until the proposal. After that point, the shit was on. Like, we'd transcended warp speed and even LUDICROUS SPEED and jumped straight into "Superman Done Broke Physics" speeds. Like, when Superman decided to reverse time just by flying around the Earth in the opposite direction a bajillion times really fast. In my mind, I'd been planning for a moderate engagement - nothing too long of course, perhaps a year or two. In her mind, we were already married. I'm not entirely sure she didn't warp around the Earth a few times and make sure that we were married not long after birth.
At any rate, on the way home she picked up a marriage magazine, and plans for the wedding are already in progress. She originally wanted to have the wedding in May - but May is just 5 short months away, and I most certainly don't have the money for a marriage in May. I negotiated her down to September - still not quite sure where I'm going to come up with several thousand dollars for a wedding (even just a simple, inexpensive one), but at least I have time now.
So, yeah, sorry to have kept you all waiting, I'm sure there were quite a few people interested in the result. But I am now currently engaged, with a wedding scheduled for September (tentatively). What joys and horrors of married life await me? She she force me to get rid of all my Transformers toys...er...I mean, collectible figurines? Will my raging hormones go unchecked for prolonged periods of time? Will I again return to ranting about the Japanese school system...but this time from the eyes of a parent! Stay tuned next time, same Gaijin time, same Gaijin channel.
As you may have read over at Outpost Nine, I'm not exactly the richest guy around at the moment. And now I've got a wedding to plan for! My entries have always been and will always be free to those who want to read them, but if you may feel inclined to donate some holiday cheer, I would appreciate it very, very, very much.
Head over to Outpost Nine for more information on donations.
Absolutely nothing is required or expected.
Sounds great :) I'm happy that I turned out that good even though it looked bad at first..
I wish you all the best luck with the marriage and keep posting the progress ^^
Uh oh, am I the first? =o
Congrats, man!
Oh, I see how commenting works now ^^
Again, congrats!
woot. first post. finally. the world seems to be against the union but what the hey. love conquers all. anyway. good luck on the marriage and in the belt-tightening. hope your neck won't break off because of the go-speed-racer-go pace of the fiance's brain when in marriage high lol.
Hey, Congratulations Az, Hopefully this will be a winner of a lady & everything will be smooth
But i think God still has you on his "comedy" channel & you may still have some interesting situations yet... :P
So, this is the end of your sex-life, huh!? Well, congrats from a long-time lurker.
おめでとうございます！
lol...your transformers sentence is all stuttered up. Don't try to say it's stylized like that, I know you were really torn up inside.
Hey...are you going to play September Rain at the wedding? And is this going to make you a Japanese? You might have to get a new domain name.
The progression of your adventures from Outpost Nine to Gaijin Smash to getting married have been more interesting than any movie I've seen in the past few years. Thanks for all the good editorials and good luck with the wedding.
As a long term avid reader of your blog let me be the first to say,
CONGRATULATIONS!
Now you're engaged the crazy is almost guaranteed to go off the scale!
Tony - London, UK
Congratulations!
Glad to hear everything worked out as planned. But I still wonder what the mom did say to her :-)
So are you going to marry in Japan or the US?
Nice.. Just, Nice
Congratulations Az! I'm really happy for both you and the lucky lady. In best Star Trek geek traditions, may you both "Live Long and Prosper!"
PS. I wouldn't worry about the whole marriage thing. Just think 'honeymoon'. You'll be fine :D
:) firstz? Good luckz mang.
CONGRATS!! I am so happy for you. You werent kidding when she couldnt connect the donuts and oranges =]
Congratulations!
Congrats on the engagement! Now...you will start to call your girlfriend your fiance..right? :) Or perhaps it just hasn't quite sunk in yet.
Looking forward to hearing more from you (especially other people's reactions to your engagement-that'll be plenty to right about).
omedetougozaimasu Az-san :)
It's traditional in America at least that the bride's father (or more generally her family) pays for the wedding. Is this not the case in Japan?
Since apparently you're going to be up to your ass in wedding preparations anyway (and you have my sympathy and pity on that front, there's nothing more frightening than a woman about to be married) why not regale us a bit with the differences between Japanese and western weddings?
Also, Congratulations on having such a great future mother-in-law. a woman who likes you and can apparently perform miracles over the phone? I'd say you really lucked out there.
Sounds great :) I'm happy that I turned out that good even though it looked bad at first..
I wish you all the best luck with the marriage and keep posting the progress ^^
Dude... :-D
Is that your first SpaceBalls reference?
Good for you about the outcome. I figured as much.
"LUDICROUS SPEED? I don't think this relationship
can take it!"
"What's the matter, Colonel Sandurz? *CHICKEN*?"
(And, with the collectibles thing:)
"No, sir -- I didn't see you playing with your
dolls again!"
Congrats. :)
Congratulations!
Hey good job! But you know we readers will really love some pictures... like a pic of your ring maybe :)
Many congrats Az! :)
Hooray for (future) mothers-in-law... I know they get a bad rap quite a lot, but this time it's super Mom to the rescue. I can only hope that my engagement goes a little less dramatic than that heh.
Out of interest, what's the general principle of custom and organising for the wedding in Japan? I take it then the bride's parents are not obliged to fork out for it? Oh and any chance of a picture of the ring? ;)
Congratulations!
I'm curious to know if either of you are having a Japanese style wedding or a Christian style (where you swear before God, blah blah blah sacred this and that) wedding.
Congratulations.
Slow is smooth.
I guess I'm the first one to say it- OMEDETO! That's great news! I kept wondering how it would all turn out ever since I got back from my Christmas leave a few days ago! Even though things got kinda rough, it must be a great feeling to have made her so happy after all the craziness.
I would love to contribute to the marriage fund, but alas, I am currently contributing large amounts of money to my "get your own apartment in Japan fund" so I'm a bit short myself.... But congratulations with everything and good luck in the future!
Congratulations Az!
I've always found international relationships extremely romantic so I feel super glad for you. Happy new year and good luck for the future! Looking forward to more stories from you!
Congratulations, man! On both the engagement and the fact that your future mother-in-law appears to be far from the stereotype, such women are a real treasure at times. Wish my own Christmas-time engagement proposal had gone just as well... Anyway, better start building a secret cache for those "collectible figurines" of yours :-)
Congratulations Az!
=O
Congratulations!
Let your marriage life be exactly how you would wish it to be :)
That is she doesn't "transform"(er) into super bitchy obaasan xD
congradulations... :-)
having been married three times myself, I suggest you learn this word and all of it's various forms: "patience"...
good luck to both of you...
(btw, marriage can be quite rewarding as well as challenging)
Congrats Az, wish you guys the best!
Congratulations my friend. I have been a long time reader and I hope everything goes well for you. Also you will be sure to have some help from me at least on the wedding finances, it may not be much but I am more than happy to help.
Looking forward to more stories,
Sincerely
John
hey! ive been waiting for ur new entry for ages! first comment!
hope your marriage goes well! MUHAHAHA
just imagine u coming home one day to find a surprise marriage set up by ur girlfriend lol
You were starting your journey with kids puting theirs fingers up into your ass and now... who would thought :)
My congratulations Az. I'm happy with you :)
Wow, huge congrats! Wish I had more than a lump of coal to share--to be correct, I didn't even get THAT, but whatever. I extend the offer again, now including your bride-to-be, if you guys find yourselves in HI., I'll be happy to get the first few rounds of cocktails (although now they pro'ly won't be in a titty bar)
Happy new year to you too AZ, I've been following your adventures since a few months now and your posts are always fun to read, very informative about japanese people/culture. Also, congratulations for your engagement. And, I'd like to add for the rest, ganbatte, you'll make it for the wedding ;)
FIRST! CONGRATS! I knew it was gonna happen anyway :p
So the punk kids really did have a point :p
FIRST! CONGRATS! I knew it was gonna happen anyway :p
So the punk kids really did have a point :p
Awesome stuff! I've nominated you for best asian blog on http://2008.bloggies.com/ . I encourage other readers to do so as well!
Yay Az!!!! Congrats man. And i got to keep my toys....action figures when i married.
http://blogd.com/wp/index.php/archives/3174
You are not alone in facing crying mess :)
Well allow me to express my congratulations, along with the wish of a long lived and prosperous 2008 (though with the wedding...yikes, that's gonna set you back some)
Congrats man! And yes...you probably will start ranting about the great education system...who knows, maybe you're just the guy (gaijin?) to change it for the better!!!....ok, one step at a time. Gonna have to work extra extra to pay for the wedding, huh? Sucks.... :) Best of luck though! By the way...does the TypeKey thing work? Cuz I tried and it keeps saying this site doesn't support it
Proud for you azrael, finally one with positive language....lol..he he
yay!
congrats dude!!you're my hero!
A much better Christmas tale than your previous one! I'm so happy for you! For all the bad that's happened with your previous relationship, your time has finally come around. It always does. Congratulations!
P.S. - Why is a wedding in May so much more expensive than any other time?
I think you already know this pretty well, but let me share some advice one friend of mine gave another:
"This is not the woman you started dating. This is now a woman planning a wedding. Do not, for any reason, attempt to reason with this person. She is completely immune to logic."
Good job, sir.