… I’m sorry, I just looked at that title again. Actually there weren’t any bells at the wedding. Anyway …
Coming live to you from Cafe Seamrog at the Youme City shopping centre in Shimonoseki, where I have just completed a point card and will get a free beverage next time, here I am to tell you about … where was I going with this again … hmm. My Softbank pocket wifi unfortunately isn’t strong enough to hold a signal inside the centre (despite being before 6pm and in the city) for very long, so I’m typing this in notepad. Ahh … notepad.
Last Saturday I got back from a trip to the UK to visit my family and attend my sister’s wedding. After getting home on Saturday afternoon (and basically passing out), I’d been suffering with jet-lag through the week, not aided by trips to some of my more energetic schools. This includes a kindergarten that REALLY enjoys The Music Man.
It was kind of nostalgic going back home, even though I’ve only been gone for just under two years. So many things have changed, but even more have remained the same. While driving through Telford, I was probably bugging my parents with mentions of “Oh, The Summer House pub’s gone” and “Ah, the Wrekin Retail Park’s still the same” and “What happened to Hadley centre?” for most of my time back.
Even on a trip up to Leeds, where most of my friends had either left for the Summer holiday or … just left, I was similarly left with feelings of wonder and nostalgia. Though I wasn’t (often) saying it out loud “Oooh Fab Cafe’s still there” and “The Library pub still has that breakfast” and “That’s an impressive new shopping centre near the station” were the kind of thoughts running through my mind.
Anyway, onto the big day.
Both families had been planning this event for over a year. I was really thankful that they told me that far in advance as trying to get time off during the term is almost impossible (unless, like some ALTs I know of, you “get sick”). As I was in Japan I couldn’t help very much, but tried to be responsive to requests as quickly as possible (on a personal note, I’m am sorry I didn’t sort my flight out sooner).
The day after my arrival, and bear in mind I late at night, I was on catch up mode. First I had to get fitted for my suit. Ever wear a cravat before? Thankfully it’s pretty much just a fat and fluffy tie. After there was a lot of running around to do so I took the submissive role and did, basically, whatever was asked of me, and throw ideas as and when I could.
The day itself was perfect. Perfect weather, perfect atmosphere, everything was perfectly timed (the bride really was in control), and it’s definately going to be a difficult wedding to top. That being said many guests pointed out the fact that my sister was the youngest of us siblings, and asking when us older kids were going to get married. Pressure!
I was only in the UK for just over a week before coming back to Japan. So it’s time to crack on with job hunting again, otherwise I might be going back a lot sooner than a potential “next wedding”.