Archive for June, 2016
February 7, 2006 – Custom Japanese lesson
Posted by Barniferous in The Penpal on June 8, 2016
Today at my Japanese lesson I told my teacher about The Penpal and I getting engaged. She was very excited for me, but did tell me that I really should have talked to her father first. I agreed, so my regular lesson plan was set aside for the day so we could work on all kinds of language related to weddings.
One of the best things about private lessons is that they can be tailored to the student’s needs. It was also nice for me to have someone else I could talk to about the situation. It was driving me crazy that I couldn’t go around telling everyone yet.
I’m sure my coworkers wondered what was wrong with me as I grinned my way through the day at work.
February 6, 2006 part 2 – Proposal aftermath
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, The Penpal on June 8, 2016
It had been just minutes since I had proposed to my girlfriend, The Penpal. After coming down from the emotional high, we started to discuss the next steps.
When I seized the opportunity to propose, I had completely excluded her parents from the decision process. She told me that she would have to talk to them and get their blessing. I told her that I wanted to talk to my family as well, and we decided that we would not tell everyone else until our parents had been given some time to process the idea.
I immediately called my parents. It was Monday evening in Japan, which meant early morning in central Canada. I managed to catch my dad at home on his way out the door. I asked if both he and my mom were free, but I heard my mom yelling in the background that she was busy getting ready for work, so my dad got to hear the news first. There was silence on his end of the phone for a minute, then he yelled for my mom to come to the phone immediately! Both of them were very excited for us!
After that I had to call my sister, who was still asleep. Before she had a chance to worry about an early call from her brother in Japan I told her the news. This woke her up instantly. Her response was “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I’m going to have a sister in law!!!”.
The Penpal and I talked for a while, and she went home to break the news to her parents. I asked if she wanted me to come, but she said it might be better if she could explain it to them by herself. She left, and I found myself home alone, bursting with excitement. I felt like I should do something to celebrate, but didn’t know what to do. Not able to come up with any ideas, I decided to walk across the street to 7-11. Near the alcohol section (yes, 7-11 sells alcohol in Japan), I found a bottle of cheap sparkling wine, which was the closest thing to a champagne that they offered. I paid for it and considered telling the cashier my news for some reason.
When I returned home, Palmer was there along with one of his girlfriends. I walked into the living room with my bottle of wine grinning and said “guess what I did”. Palmer tried to read the expression on my face, and then slowly guessed “you got her pregnant?”. I said no, so he guessed “you got engaged?”. I said yes and then opened the cheap sparkling wine for the three of us to share.
I am aware that I am kind of doing things in the wrong order, but too excited to care at the moment 🙂
February 6, 2006 part 1 – A modest proposal
Posted by Barniferous in The Penpal on June 7, 2016
Today started off like any other Monday. I had the day off and The Penpal came over to visit when she was finished work. Usually she is in a pretty good mood, but tonight she was a bit down.
Over the past few months we had been talking about my return to Canada when I finish teaching English. I asked her to move to Canada with me and she accepted. Over the weekend she finally talked to her parents about the idea, and they were not at all excited about the idea of their only daughter moving half way around the world to live with her boyfriend. She said that her parents wouldn’t have any problem with the idea if we were married, but wouldn’t approve if we were just dating.
At this point I had a lot of things go through my head: the Penpal and I have been together for a few years now, and we were very happy. I had been in some longer relationships before, but none of them felt the same way as my relationship with The Penpal. Despite growing up in very different cultures, we just connect and compliment each other.
I thought about returning to Canada without her and instantly felt a pit in my stomach. I thought about being home and starting another search for a girlfriend and that felt even worse. The Penpal was my companion, someone I wanted to be around for a long time to come. Someone I never wanted to be without.
I don’t know how long I sat there thinking about all of these things. But eventually I decided to do something. I took her hands in mine and told her that I didn’t want to be apart from her. Ever. She told me the same thing. I then asked her if she would marry me.
She accepted!!
This was not the proposal I ever imagined before. There was no fanfare, no romantic dinner with a ring cleverly hidden away, no beautiful scenery, and I didn’t have a ring. It was just the two of us sitting on my floor couch, the first piece of furniture we shopped for together, in my oddly shaped room in a company apartment. There is something to be said giant romantic proposals, but in this case the opportunity was there, I took it, and I am very VERY happy that I did!
Holy crap I’m engaged!
January 30, 2006 – Planning for the Future
Posted by Barniferous in The Penpal on June 7, 2016
Today was a typical Monday – I had the day off and caught up on being relaxed. In the evening The Penpal came over after work and we ordered food and hung out.
Since my friend UPS had come to visit, I had been seriously thinking about returning to Canada. I enjoy teaching English, but know it won’t be my career. The biggest problem would be leaving The Penpal behind. We had talked before about her moving to Canada, but tonight we actually seriously discussed the idea. I was happy to hear that she was not only interested, but actually excited about the idea of moving to Canada and living with me!
Japan and Canada have a Working Holiday Visa that allows people under a certain age to work and travel in the other country for up to a year. We decided that when I returned to Canada (likely before the end of the year), that she would apply for a working holiday visa and come with me. That gives us a year to see how we enjoy living together and how she enjoys being away from home before we have to make any other decisions.
She told me that she would talk to her parents about the idea, and we parted ways both happy, excited, and very much looking forward to new adventures together.
Drinking in Japan 
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