So thanks to Batfield for reccomending “The Wire”, it really is a great show that you should check out. I’ve never really cared for Cop drama, certainly not in a gritty “street-cop” style anyway, like most people I enjoyed 24 a lot, but it’s hardly run of the mill police drama. Also it’s in Baltimore. I don’t know anything about Baltimore. I was happy it was somewhere that I knew nothing about, I’m bored of the only three places in America being New York, Los Angeles and Chicago (with occaisional cutaways to Washington DC for good measure). In summation: Watch “The Wire”, great characters of which none are instantly likable but eventually almost all of them win you over, even the bad guys for some reason. It will also make you want to go out and solve crime.
So this weekend I’ve been running about dealing with wedding stuff again, it’s an understandably reoccuring theme. The wedding is only 3 weeks away, and I’m not really worried, it seems the whole thing is (more or less) in hand, I have to figure a way to transport masses of stinking gaijin from one place to another but I’m sure it’ll work out somehow. The problem with me is I am something of a hinderance when it comes to meeting with wedding related people. Specifically people who take my money for services, especially when I am unsure of why we have this service. I have systematically been angry with almost every single person we have dealt with because I have trust issues with the wedding industry. People seem to really want to make you pay for what they bill as the happiest day of your life.
Here is a fine example of what I am talking about. I have a friend called Domonic, he works in the wedding industry for a ludicrous amount of money (he can get around £200+ for 4 hours work) his talents lie in the fact that he is:
a) White
b) Has a spousal work visa.
c) He can, on cue, say “Stand up” and “Sit down”
End.
Now, he is a lovely chap and I would do the same if I were offered the job, however, I am not in the habit of giving a great deal of trust to an industry in which I will have to pay £200 a pop for a token ethnic minority. Bottom line, whenever anyone mentions any new “charge” even for very reasonable reasons I get my suspicious on. So far I have done this almost without amnesty to everyone including the nice elderly gift arranging man. But that is because the ludicrous amounts of things you are supposed to do vexes me, its bad for everyone.
Case in point:
お祝い金:
This is money to the tune of 30,000円 that guests give us. To celebrate. Personally I don’t dig the idea but hey, it seems to be a fixed cultural thing. I did make it clear that its ludicrous to expect anyone crossing the atlantic to get here to pay for our wedding. It is. Everyone agrees. Weirder still, from that 30,000 about 15 goes to pay the meal fee, the rest is a donation towards the hiring of the place and also 5 of it is towards a gift that we buy and give to them. Why do that? Why take money, buy something someone doesn’t need and then give it back to them? Why not just not take the money in the first place? They keep their money, we don’t have to arrange gifts and all is well in the world. It’s kind of typical of the Japanese penchanté for standing on ceremony. If there is a ceremony, they will stand on it and say:
“Look at me standing on this goddam ceremony. I am completely standing on this right here. 180° baby! Booya!”
Other things I don’t understand:
1) Puchi gift: Random pack of sweets you give to the people on the way out. I know of no reason why we do this.
2) Ring pillow. The boxes rings come in are unsatisfactory, the rings require a pillow for some reason.
３）Large gifts for parents. Hell, they already got married right? Why are we giving gifts to them?
I say all this like I’m angry, truth is I’m not. Just the need for everything in Japan to be so “by the book” is something I don’t really understand and coming from a Western background where sales people are constantly trying to sell you crap you don’t need, I find trust with sales people an issue. It has become very clear to me however that these people are to be trusted (the ones we’re using anyway), they genuinely enjoy their jobs and try to help out where they can and more often than not I’ve come out of every establishment feeling like an ass for going in with a “don’t you be trying to screw a nigga bitch” -face on.
In other news the new Iron man trailer
This is going to be the best movie ever. There won’t be any further debate on this.
