Today is the 17th of March, which is exactly one month before our Wedding (which is different from the marriage which took place last year in September).
It is kind of scary and exciting too to know that there is little time left
and still so much to do!
I wish we had more time to sit down and think about attractions and to
prepare everything, but between work and all the things to settle for the
wedding on weekends (suits and dresses to try, the make-up for Eiko, things to
confirm with the place we're having the party at, etc.), we hardly have enough
time to sleep.
Not to mention that I have just realized the contract for our apartment is going to expire so we'd better find another place and move out before having to pay the renewal fee (another great Japanese idea where you have to give away the equivalent of one month of rent every two years), so I'm also visiting apartments when I have some spare time (lunch break, etc.)
Anyway, I hope this is going to be a nice party; I'm getting more and more excited as the picture gets clearer, especially when I picture our family and our friends celebrating this event with us.
Right after the wedding, we will fly away to Bora Bora for the
well-deserved Honey Moon!
We can't wait to be there!
Oh yeah, one more thing, this post is dedicated to Fred who kindly reminded me that there hadn't been any update on this weblog for nearly a month!
First of all,
happy new year to everyone!
I hope this new year will bring as much happiness as it does to Eiko and I, as we have just spent our first Oshougatsu as husband and wife.
We actually spent New year's eve at home, comfortably together, after having spent the whole day cleaning up the apartment until the last bit of dust was gone, in order to well prepare the new year.
However, the next day, we went to Eiko's parents' place to have a typical
Japanese dinner for the New Year and drink to celebrate!
Everything was just perfect, even though I was not always sure about what I
was eating (I have to admit that my tolerance to unknown food has considerably
increased ever since I came to Japan).
Some pictures and description in Japanese) of the food
prepared for Oshogatsu and after.
Finally, today, Eiko and I went to pray at Meiji Jingu, along with some other thousands of Japanese. I think we were still lucky as we didn't have to line up for too long, but I believe that the huge TV screen placed 300 meters before the shrine is there to entertain people while they are waiting to move a few meters forward, during peak hours.
We also got some charms to protect us against car accidents for example (that one was addressed to me, especially!) or a wooden arrow to protect us against misfortune (the picture in the corner is a close-up on the bell attached to the arrow).
I like this period of the year in Japan for all the tradition that comes with it.
Thank you Santa Eiko for this wonderful Christmast present!
Thanks to you, I can now do several things at the same time without fearing to see the movements of the mouse being choppy because of a high CPU usage, I can connect to my server by ssh without having to launch an external program, I can just do that in a terminal (not a DOS-window!) and finally, it's just beautiful...
Obviously, I'm talking about my new apple PowerMac G5 dual-processor 2GH.
I just cannot stop having fun with it, trying all the stuff I can do with
it and just contemplating how perfectly it works...
It is also much more quiet than my old PC, while much faster too: conversions
in C1DSLR which used to take about a minute and half are completed in just a
few seconds!
Thanks again Santa Eiko for helping me to buy this new computer, I feel I'm free again!
Eiko and I went to try some kimono today, to get
ready for the wedding ceremony at the shrine.
This is approximately what I'm going to look like next year on April 17th (the watch and the sweater not included!).
The choice was made quite quickly between a dark vest, a very dark vest or
purple one that makes you look like a bad imitation of a yakuza in an American
movie (quite fun to wear though!).
As for the pants, it was about picking between large or thin stripes.
Eiko, on the other hand, had three catalogs full of colourful kimono, red, black, orange, green, with phoenixes, Japanese patterns, etc.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to doing this ceremony, I think it'll be quite fun (until I have to do the speech in Japanese!).
Just by looking at this, don't you feel like getting a Mac?
I've been lurking for a G5 for a week now, since I went to the new Apple store in Ginza... They look so nice and now that the kernel is Unix based, I really feel like getting one!
After all, the only thing I'm doing on my computer lately is reading my mails, browsing, working on my pictures and from time to time, programming. Everything is now possible with Mozilla for mail and browsing (or Firebird and Thunderbird), Photoshop, which has even been optimized to run on Apple, C1 DSLR, which has just been released for Mac to convert Canon RAW pictures, and obviously, perl, ssh and other Unix tools will be available with the system :)
I don't see anything that will keep me away from switching now!
I just need to figure out which configuration is the most suitable to my
needs (and to my wallet!)... Right now, I may be a bit greedy but the Apple G5
dual-processor 2GHz looks awesome...
I'll then think about getting a nice screen,
maybe the 20" or the 23": I was so impressed by the sharpness of the image and
the vivid colours!
raaahhh... I've got to get one! I've got to get one!
While I was riding home earlier this evening, I had to cross a busy
street so I waited that all the cars were still, waiting in line in front of
the traffic light and started to go through the cars.
When I was about to reach the other side of the street, I got hit by a scooter
which was passing the cars by the left (people drive on the left hand side
in Japan) ...
I just couldn't see it before (maybe I wasn't careful enough either), as the car (a 4WD) was hiding it from me. The only moment I actually saw it was a few seconds before the hit, while I was checking it was safe to go...
The scooter came awfully fast and I didn't have enough power to get out of the way, not to mention that I had also left the bicycle light at home. The hit was inevitable.
I was put down by the hit, suffering several bruises at the legs caused by
the bicycle itself and also got hit at the torso, as I bumped into a barrier
on the road when I fell from the bike.
I believe I am quite lucky though as I didn't get more badly injured,
especially at the head or didn't have any bones broken.
The bike itself hasn't been that lucky as I believe both wheels have to be
replaced (I'm not sure about the frame yet).
Now, the lady who was riding the scooter fell too but didn't complain about any physical injury; the turn signal light of the scooter broke though, so we agreed I would pay for the reparation of that light, as I assume it was my fault in the first place.
However, I've been reading about bike accidents in Japan and it seems the law favours the smaller parties, and the responsibility always falls under the bigger party (car > motorcycle > bicycle > pedestrian).
Is it a case of shared responsibility, as the scooter may not have been supposed to pass the cars like that? Does the Japanese law give right to the bicycle in this case?
Should I ask her to pay for my bicycle too? The injuries I've suffered are probably nothing but how can you tell in the long term?
I will be calling the Traffic Accident Counseling Service (sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) to ask them their opinion on that matter: although I still believe I was at fault, it would be interesting to learn more about those laws.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government sponsors various counseling services where you can talk to lawyers and counselors regarding traffic accidents.
Problems related to compensation (for both the party at fault and the victim), out-of-court settlements, and correct insurance procedures are addressed.(in Japanese)
Hours: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. (in person consultation); 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (telephone consultation)
Closed: Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays.
Tel: 03-5320-7733An English speaking person can be reached at: 03-5321-1111
I'll be away for the next 3 weeks, going back to France for my brother's wedding (yes, everyone's getting married this year!) and then to Italy for a quick trip with Eiko.
Although I do not wish there's an earthquake while I'm away, I will
definitely feel safer in France, away from those earthquakes like the one that
hit Hokkaido a few days ago (M7 on Richter's scale).
I wanted to write a few lines about it but I didn't really have time to do so
with all the packing, work in the office, buying souvenirs, getting back my
scooter from the cops who picked it up in Shinjuku, etc.
Bruno, on the other hand, has written something about it in his weblog so I'll just refer to it instead (that'll prevent Bruno from telling me I'm copying his ideas too ;)).
See you in 3 weeks from now!
This is it, Eiko and I got married this morning at 11am at
Nakano-ku's city office, with no ceremony, no suit or wedding dress, no
photographer, just a clerk at the counter checking our application forms for
10 minutes.
Yet, the joy of being finally married didn't suffer from the simplicity of
this old Japanese administrative building!
It has been quite a tough day, with the actual registration, the papers to
get to apply to the next counter for a different thing. It was especially
tough for Eiko who had to change her name, change her address, etc.
She still has to change her passport though. As for what's left for me, I'll
have to get some stamp from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, register the
marriage with the French embassy and eventually update my Visa, since I am now
married to a Japanese citizen: that gives me some additional advantages, such
as having a Visa that is independant from my occupation.
The picture here is the bouquet my family sent us for the happy event.
They've been very supportive, especially my brother who didn't hesitate to
wake us up at 6:30am this morning to congratulate us in advance (obviously,
he's still not very familiar with the time difference between France and
Japan! ;))
The shelf where my CDs are located at is rather small. As a result, the CDs
have to be split on several levels, on several rows. Of course, the CDs which
I listen the most to are most of the time in the front, while some of them
barely get to get out from the hidden spaces of the shelf.
Once in a while, I dig those in forgotten spaces to find CDs I hadn't listened
to for a long time and try to shuffle them around to renew the musical wave in
my apartment.
This time, I had the funniest experience when I found the CD of Utada Hikaru and started to
play it.
From the first sounds of drums of "Automatic", the huge hit when I came to
Japan, I was sent 4 years back and all the memories and the feelings came back
as if I was still there...
I remembered about the parties at the bar "Isn't it" in Shibuya (entrance fee 1,000 yens, one drink included, the place has closed since then though) with Fred and Seb, dancing or just trying to fight sleepiness until dawn. Then we would slowly head to the train station, altogether with other young people, all tired and with that whistling sound in your ears after a night spent in a club...
I remembered about the Sunday afternoons spent in my apartment, not knowing what to do, watching some TV program I wouldn't understand, listening to this CD of Utada Hikaru in loop and trying to call Fred to know what he'd like to do for the rest of the day. Most of the time, Fred would wake up around 5pm on Sundays, so that wouldn't leave a lot of choices for things to do then (Fred has kept a very bad memory of this 5pm music played in the streets of Tokyo since then, which reminds him too much of those weekends when there just wouldn't be any Sunday...).
All that would remind me of my second apartment, the one in Roppongi where
several generations of students had stayed before me: an aging apartment, on
the street level, noisy at night because of the taxies which were taking a
shortcut through Roppongi.
Nothing would work properly: the window wouldn't slide properly, the air
conditionning system was a huge and quite alarming block which looked like
it'd die any time you used it, buttons were coming off the different doors,
the huge and ugly wooden table borrowed from the stock of my company was
simply occupying half of the room but still, it was my apartment and I
remember how much I enjoyed the first time I stepped in it four years
ago.
The excitement was short after I realized how old everything was, and how
small the apartment actually was, but it was really a pleasant surprise,
compared to the first place Fred and I had to stay at (Fred actually managed
to stay there for 6 months, I don't know how he could survive!): the room was
about 25m2, the walls were revealing any noise from the next room, and when
the nuisance didn't come from the next room, you could be sure that someone or
something would keep you awake, like people shouting in the corridor, fire
alarms triggered by some guy who wanting to have some fun or just the sound of
crows in the morning in front of your windows.
The bathroom was also quite depressing: a room made of pink plastic walls (or
at least, that's what I remember of it), separated from the rest of the room
by a 20cm wall to prevent water from spreading into the apartment, with a
light so dim that it made you feel like in the uncomfortable capsules you can
see in science fiction movies.
Yet, I think it was maybe the most interesting time of my life, lost with the
excitement of being in Japan with new friends in the same situation as
me!
I cherish those great moments when your memories catch you up, refill your mind with all those feelings to finally bring you back to the present time and to make you realize that a lot of things were accomplished within just a few years, the most important one of all probably being to be just a few days away from getting married with Eiko, with whom, in a few years from now, we may tell that kind of stories again about the great experience we are going through right now.
I'm happy to announce that I'm going to get married this coming September with Eiko, after having played seek and hide for more than 2 years, fearing to be seen by our colleagues!
I guess we were quite good at it, looking at the astonished face of people
in the office when I announced it a little more than a week ago!
Only a few people knew about us, and even fewer knew that we were going to get
married so it was really fun to announce the good news!
The marriage will take place in Tokyo, very officially on September 4th,
when we're going to drop our application form at the city hall...
The choice of September 4th has been recommended by my mum, who checked the
Chinese calendar and called a friend of hers, who herself checked with a
Chinese monk in Taiwan. It was confirmed to be a good omen by a Japanese
fortune teller according to the Japanese calendar, so I guess it has to be a
good one!
We thought it would be great to go to France for my brother's wedding (yes, him too!) as a married couple and I'm quite thrilled about this idea too :).
The ceremony with families, relatives and friends will on the other hand be
held in spring 2004, maybe we'll be lucky enough to have the cherry blossoms
accompanying us :)
One thing I'm a little concerned about is whether I'm going to be available
enough to take pictures of my own wedding party !
