25 - Storm

Okay. Second attempt, start. Lost my original blog draft to Baby the netbook nearing the end of her half-decade tether, but we’ll soldier on. It’s not like I have a whole lot to do anyway. Besides plan a flipping wedding.

The biggest news to share today would have to be Steph and my return home to the icy-cold climes of Leicester. Next year’s wedding is set to take place in my home town, so all the planning for that took place in the vicinity of Leicester. Let’s see. We met and selected our wedding photographer, Marc (Yeah, with a ‘c’. What a hipster.), who’s a really nice guy. On the Thursday of the second week we took a trip down to Castle Gardens near DeMontford for what I learned are called ‘engagement photos’. Did everyone else know this was a thing? Because it was the first I’d heard of them. Actually, there’s a lot about weddings that I didn’t realize I was supposed to know. Engagement photos, wedding breakfasts, speeches. Oh, stars above, the speeches! And dancing! It’s not enough to just get up there and dance, you have to be watched dancing with your new spouse by the gathered friends and family (who, I’m sure, as part of the Strictly generation, will be expecting far more than I will ever be able to perform) and then there’s some rubbish about this guy dancing with this woman, and your pet rat dancing with your mother’s uncle’s cousin twice removed, and so on. Steph and I are of the opinion that we can forget all that. It’s good to agree about stuff.

Oh yeah, engagement photos. So, this at least I can understand. It gives us a chance to try out the photographer, build a working relationship and whatever, before we actually have the wedding. He gets used to us, too, and learns what sort of things we’re comfortable with, and what sorts of colours and locales make us look better. Steph and I both thought that there was one particular thing that we both did in too many of the photos, but I won’t tell you what. Don’t want you looking out for it when you see them, ‘cos then it’ll be all that you see. I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out, though, when Marc sends them over in the next week or so.

We also got in touch with a videographer company, ignite films, who sent over an ace sample DVD and instructions for the rest of the time before the wedding. Can I pick 10 fitting songs for the wedding video? I doubt it. All I can think of it soundtracks from stupid cartoons about robots, or angry punk rock from my childhood, neither of which will fit the overall theme of the wedding.

The church is booked, so that’s the most important thing out of the way. We still have to plan the service and the decorations and whatever, but that’s all no problem at this stage. We also have our reception venue booked, a place called Halstead House out in the country. I remember going there when I was little, back when they had a cafe, but nowadays the place only really does events. It’s a gorgeous place, and I’m glad we managed to get it. The guy who runs it, John, is also fantastic, and seems really keen to make sure everything fits what we want for the day. There’ll be food, but coming from veggie backgrounds has limited our choices a little bit, which brings us on to catering.

The plan as it stands is to have a couple of our favourite foods on offer after the service, downstairs, before the reception. Chips from me, and curry from Steph. And anyone who says anything about what we should be eating can get stuffed. At Halstead, we’ll just be having dessert, drinks and some finger food things that the House will be supplying.

Also have the order in for suits, which need to be fitted closer to the time. Didn’t think I’d like tails on a coat, but I was surprised, and the guy in the shop rightly said that your wedding will be one of the only times in your life that you can wear them. This was between repeatedly telling me that my original choice of a dark brown for the coat would make me look like an idiot. Well, excuse me for not keeping up with Gok flipping Wang.

Oh, and we even went to the council office on the Monday to register our intent to marry. It’s all very bureaucratic, I must say. We’ve let them know the date, our names and nationalities, and signed countless bits of paper to assure them that no, really, we aren’t brother and sister. And this information will apparently be going up on the one screen in the council office that says who’s getting married when for fifteen days. Apparently this is so people who object to our union have a chance to see what we’re planning and get in touch with the office to let them know we’re marrying illegally. As if people sit all day in front of the screen, just scanning all the newlyweds-to-be in Leicestershire, looking for people they know can’t get married! It’s very Hitchhiker’s Guide. ‘The notice was up on the screen for fifteen days, you were free to go and read it and have your say’.

Phew! This wedding stuff is easily the most complicated thing I’ve ever experienced, though to be fair I dropped Math and Science after GCSEs in favour of Drama so what do I know about complicated things. Putting everything into a working order is turning out to be incredibly difficult, especially with neither of us being in the flipping country until a week or so before the big day. But the wonders of technology prevail, and Skype has allowed us to set up meetings with various people regardless of where in the world we are.

It was great to be back in England, I must say. The weather was wonderfully chill, a superb break from the murderous heat and humidity of Kobe. The food is top class, and by ‘top class’ I mean really tasty, not necessarily classy. I must have eaten beans on toast, topped generously with sharp Welsh cheddar, every single day I was there. And I do think I ate all the fish and chips, and drank all the cider. Got a health check this afternoon at the ward office, and I doubt they’ll be very impressed with my weight again this year. Pfft, I’m beyond caring at this point.

It was also nice to see Steph’s mum, who flew in from Seattle to lend a hand with wedding stuff. Having been awash in the horror stories of parents taking the reins with their child’s wedding, I was honestly a touch nervous. But Marsha was genuinely full of good advice and reminders that it’s our day, and we are expected to do whatever we like with it.

Can I just say briefly that looking at weddings on the internet has caused me to question my faith in humanity? I mean, I’m sure you really like Doctor Who. But is it really something you want as the theme of one of the most important days of your life? At what point does the day stop being about you, and start being about Peter Whatshisface? I mean, I’m making a massive sacrifice by not insisting on Pokémon as the theme for our wedding, but it is for the best. Twenty years down the line, when hopefully there are kids in the equation, will I be able to shamelessly look them in the eyes and tell them that the day I married their mother the flower girls were dressed like Bellossums, and our vows included the line ‘to have and to hold, in health but also when Paralysed, Poisoned, Burned or Asleep’? I’m not sure I could. Our wedding is about us, and I guess I want the focus to be on myself, on Steph, and on God who brought us together. If you think your interest in a camp British sci-fi identifies you and your relationship with your partner, you be my guest and drive away from the church in a flipping police box. It’s just hard for me to understand without knowing you like I know myself.

Right, anyway, it was good to be back. We managed to get to Bradgate in our time back as well, which was really nice to see. It’s a gorgeous park, and the deer trump anything Nara can provide hands down. Many, many memories. And also Twycross Zoo, which is excellent. Monkeys. I forgot how much I like monkeys.

We even managed to take in a couple of films. Apparently we missed the boat for Pacific Rim, which we’ll have to rent some time, but we did manage to get to World’s End, which I really liked. It’s no Hot Fuzz, the ending is really confused and doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing, but the fights are just phenomenal and there is a good heart somewhere in there, even if it’s hard to see at times. We also got to see Monsters University, which was also great. Not as good as the original, but a stand-up prequel and massively entertaining. Going to see that movie also set the scene for one of the most awesome moments of my trip back. The cinema was packed with kids, as you might have expected, and as the pre-trailer adverts ran we shuffled through the noisy dark towards some of the last seats in the house, right near the front. I’m standing there in the centre aisle as we look around for the C that marked where we’d be sitting (there wasn’t one, as it turned out), when I hear a familiar voice. ‘Pikachu’, it says. I turn, wide-eyed, to the cinema screen, where Pikachu is waving down at me. And it really did feel like it was for me alone. Music roaring in my ears, Nintendo bellow down at me once again that Pokémon X & Y will be the best thing the gaming world has ever seen! Horde battles! 3D Pokémon! Macarons!! And so soon!! I nearly fell to my knees in surprise as the game logos sprung up big and beautiful on the silver screen. It was as though Pokémon had followed me half way round the world to remind me that it was looking forward to my patronage. Mine! Maybe I’m not explaining it well, but the whole thing was awesome in a very true sense of the word.

I also watched some films on the flight over, actually. Die Hard 5 was stupid and entertaining, as I expected, and was a really good pick-me-up out of the slump of watching all 800 hours of French sombre-fest Les Mis. I’m sure it’s better live, or maybe when not on a plane, but I just didn’t like it. It was slow and boring, and I didn’t like the characters. Also thought it was weird to have the characters always always singing, even when they’re not saying anything important. The only musical experience I have is Blood Brothers (excellent) and those musical episodes of Scrubs and Buffy, and in all of them we were given breaks from all the songs with bits of dialogue. Turns out, I much prefer that to a single, million hour long song like is Les Mis, even when sung by Wolverine. Oh, and I saw Wreck-it Ralph, too, which was pretty cool. Worth it for the brief glimpses of Sonic the Hedgehog, which always threatened to give me a nostalgia-riffic heart attack, and that’s even when I saw it on a stuffy plane and the ending credits were sung by AKB 48. Those poor girls. This time, it was so obvious that they did not care about their music. That’s what you get for commercialising art, or something.

What else was there? Had a good chat with my brother again, all the way down in New Zealand. It seems funny that I’m in an almost neighbouring country now, but to talk to him I flew all the way to the opposite side of the planet to him. Still, it was great to see him on Skype. I do miss my little brother, and I eagerly look forward to arriving in NZ in January to see Hobbiton. Him. I meant ‘him’. It’s funny, having the little guy getting married before me. I’m over the affront, and now I’m just keen to see what he does with his wedding so Steph and I can improve on i- I mean, be inspired by it.

Oh, right, Steph and I got new phones yesterday. And what a hassle that was. We wanted out of Softbank, seeing as our two years were up and in Kobe, at least, they can be a bit iffy with foreigners. Despite having all their catalogues and reference guides in English, I might add! When we first got our phones we paid with credit cards from overseas, not having Japanese accounts yet, and a week later went in to change the payment details. Can we do that? ‘No’, we were told, by the flustered looking attendant in the shop, ‘no way’. So we left, and for a year spend a ton exchanging money to pay the small costs of our phones. Only, second year comes around, and suddenly all the new newcomers are switching to Japanese accounts after a week of using foreign cards. We go back in and ask again. ‘Of course you can,’ we are told. ‘You even could have last year!’ See, what happened was the flustered looking muppet saw two scary gaijin come into his shop and ask duh I dunno something about phones I don’t speak English so whatevs even tho they’re speaking perfect Japanese. And said ‘no’. Could have asked him for the time. ‘No’. Could have told him to call an ambulance ‘cos I’d been shot. ‘No’. When we switched to au, I did explain this to the lovely woman from Softbank who took our details, and I do hope she’ll do something about it.

Let's talk about something else. Short time skip, and my health check's all done. I'm slightly fatter, but ultimately lighter than last year, and also shorter. Not sure how that last one works. Blood pressure's up, but no tuberculosis. Not a bad result, all in all. Also been up to the annual Job Training, and after than Summer School at the Foreign Studies university. It was my first time in a position of responsibility among the JETs, which was pretty nerve-wracking, but I think everything went well nonetheless. That's what comes from having this ace community, I guess; folk you can rely on. Next Job Training, or rather, the Skills Development Conference, is in November. I have a proposition for a discussion down for then, though I don't know if it'll be accepted.

Summer School, likewise, was excellent. My school's kids came for the first year ever, and though there were only two of them they really did well and I think had a great time. Steph's kids were fascinated by me, as well, having never met their ALT's legendary fiancee... fian... however you spell it – before. But now the break's over, and tomorrow it's back to work. Well, 'work'. The holiday continues, so the kids won't be in, but I'll have meetings and things to go to in addition to preparing new classes. Nothing strenuous, but still doesn't beat sitting at home all day playing Saints Row, which is what the typhoon today forced me to do. 'Forced'.

Alright, that's it. Thanks for reading.