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Over the weekend I watched a program on "omiai." This is a popular "dating" custom in Japan. Couples are set up, for the purpose of finding a prospective spouse. No fooling around with dating and all that stuff. "I want to get married" clubs/meetings is what they are. The program was about 2 women who went to America to find future husbands. The first woman was in her late 20's or early 30's. The man she met is 42, lives in Hawaii, and makes A LOT of money. He knew a little Japanese, and do did his father. So I guess they spent about a week getting to know each other. They played pool, painted, worked out, etc. After the end of the week, they decided that they were compatible and getting married would be fine. Nothing more about that was explained. The other woman went to New York. She found an omiai add in "New Yorker" magazine. It said: "Tycoon seeks Japanese woman skilled in the art of kimono..." So she called and they aranged to meet (I am not sure if she new enough English to work this out, but someone did.) The man lives in Long Island and owns a winery (Wolffe or something like that). The man is in his mid 50's, and has been divorced. He has been to Japan twice, but I don't know for how long. The woman is about the same age. She was married, but I don't know if she was divorced or not. Anyway, the woman meet the tycoon at his winery/house. She wore a kimono and seemed right at home. He gave her a tour of everything. They took a ride in his really expensive collector's car. They drank lots of wine. He showed her te kitchen and told her she could make him anything she wanted. He said that she could spend all his money, she wouldn't have to worry about anything. During their time together, he designed a new bottle of wine, and presented it to her saying, "To show how much I love you, I have named a new kind of wine after you." (Pretty quick for a week or so, huh?) So they too, decided that getting married would be just peachy. (And I am sure that this man doesn't speak any Japanese.) During the program, there were "subtitles" on the bottom of the screen (very common). But the most pronounced "subtitles" were the ones proclaiming how much this or that cost. These 2 men have a lot of money. Maybe I am a dreamer or something, but I don't beleive that either of these couples will be all that happy. Money is great and all, but I think a marriage takes a bit more than money. I think not being able to communicate meaningful things to each other will get frustrating really quick. Imagine haveing to call an enterpreter to talk to your spouse! But maybe I missed part of the story because my Japanese isn't all that good. For those of you who don't know, my bro is about to graduate from boot camp this week. He will be a full-fledged MARINE. How about a round of applause?! Hooray, Nate! Another announcement: I am off to the Philippenes Dec 18th for a 2.5 week vacation! Valerie |