Part 3 of the wedding story, magic involved
After the reception we stood outside in the nice weather speaking with Shindo-sensei, one of Ayako’s elementary school teachers that happened to attend. Not only did I get to practice my nihongo with him (he was a willing candidate), but he also got to practice his english on me (in fact it was quite good, at one point he told me he traveled to the US with the YMCA in his younger years).
When his wife arrived we said our goodbyes and then Ayako, a few of her friends, and I all car pooled to a local hang out / bar / cafe to attend the after-reception party. In Japanese weddings the reception is not the end of the day (in fact it generally happens early enough in the day so the real parties with friends can happen later). At the reception we ate some finger foods, listened to music, watched a video, played some group type games, and drank a lot (well, I drank a lot).
At one point the groom and some of his friends were doing some funny contest that I was asked to join. I failed miserably (really helped that I failed to understand the rules), and was out of the game in about 5 seconds, but I was not finished!
After their game I approached the groom and reminded him of a certain magic trick that I once showed him (he loves magic tricks, and had played several on me). The trick requires 2 people, the magician and assistant (i guess that is quite often the case). This time I told him he would be the magician, and I the assistant - to which he agreed. So, being full of liquid courage, I addressed the entire gathering in Nihongo and grabbed their attention. Then proceeded I to tell them about the grooms magical senses and that everyone must watch closely. With a full room of attentive people we performed the trick 2 times to the amazement of many (although I’m sure a few knew the magic behind the magician). In the end I dubbed the groom David Copperfield and solicited an applause and much laughter. Our 2 minutes of fame were up, and somehow I felt like my work there was done 
June 12th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Lol, are you a real magician?! I wanna see that trick someday!! Heh, it sounds fun…different but fun
I’d like to attend to one of those Japanese weddings you’ve been talking so much about!!
So what was the contest about? Lol that reminds me of this last winter…when we went to CT, TJ and I were at his grandparent’s and the four of us were playing card games…and they explained the rules of one of them and I just didn’t get it!! We had to play like twice till I fully understood and to my surprise, I didn’t do that bad!! But still hehe it was weird since it was a game I never played before and they were explaining me in a language that’s not my native language…but it was enjoyable nonetheless!!
June 13th, 2009 at 7:02 am
haha, no im no real magician, just learned a few tricks over the years.
The contest was with pocky - a japanese candy. And it involved eating it quicker than the other person without using your hands.
I can agree, contests when the rules are very unclear, although fun, can also leave you wondering “what just happened”? lol