The Wedding

The wedding was held at Akiha-jinja. a shrine located high in the mountains. The day was so clear so you could see all the way to the ocean from the top of the shrine. Drew had purchased a used kimono, while Alisha wore a $10,000 kimono that Tabi-san's wife graciously let her borrow. After tabi dressed drew and his wife dressed alisha, the ceremony began.

I also got to meet Masa and Chiaki, Drew and Alisha's best friends in Japan. There is a Japanese word, genki, that loosely translates as good or healthy but is used more broadly to describe good spirits or a person who is highly energetic and happy. Knowing that, both Masa and Chiaki were described to me as super-genki, and after a few minutes of meeting them I could see why. With Masa, everything was "perfect," "awesome," and "incredible." His English was great, so it wasn't for lack of vocabulary that he rarely chose other words to describe his experiences. After saying a couple things in Japanese he told me "Wow, you're perfect!" with a sincerity and joy that I have rarely witnessed. It was completely disarming and infectious as well. I could see why Drew and Alisha liked them so much. They had also organized the entire reception in Hamamatsu, which we attended after the ceremony.

The reception was nothing short of amazing as well. It was in a restaurant called Hillman's, where Drew had originally proposed to Alisha. Though, later I found out that technically it was a proposal via a phone call made from the restaurant. Hillman's was a small Italian restaurant, and the chef was superb. Salad, salmon, potatoes au gratin, duck sausage with fava beans, spaghetti, and a chicken like I had never had before; with lots of wine in between each course. As I met other English teachers and Japanese friends from the surrounding area I realized what an incredible network I was coming into. After many goodbyes, we were driven back to Haruno. Drew, a few of his friends, and myself stayed up a little later, talking and polishing off a final bottle of wine before going to bed.

I realize after looking this over the last few updates that I've talked a lot about Drew and Alisha. I promise in the future i will focus more on personal stuff, but this event was so memorable, I felt the need to write it down. Tabi-san says that Akiha-jinja has been there for over 1300 years. Dominque, an American scholar who is studying to be a priest under Tabi-san, says its history was uncertain up until 500 years ago. In either case, its certain that Drew and Alisha are the first forigners to be married there; and for what it took to cause that to happen, I am proud to have them as friends.