Meet the Parents
As I implied in my last (and only) post on Friday, J1 and I headed to Michigan last week, ostensibly for my cousin's wedding, but also so that I could introduce J1 to my parents. Overall, the weekend went as well as could be expected.
Rather than babble on and on about it, I will republish J1's account of the weekend, because she's way funnier than I am and it will give you all a different voice to read here. She didn't have a copy of the email, so I had to have K1 send it to me. (To prompt K1 to send it to me, I threatened her with hordes of ninjas, which motivated her to act quickly. fn1.)
So here's J1's story. I will insert my comments as necessary:
(As [another friend] would say:)
GRRL! How YOU doin'?? We missed you guys this weekend! Man alive, it was a loooong 2 days. We were only gone for, like, 48 hours, but it was packed. We got in late, of course. Our plane was delayed a couple of hours, and that's why when I called you from the rental car counter I sounded a "bit" stressed.
What was nice was that these were, hands down, the nicest car rental employees ever. I mean, there was no hint of impatience, no one sighed with frustration, they just kept suggesting different ways to find [BRY]'s name on their reservation list. Meanwhile, N and I felt better since they clearly weren't upset with how long it was taking. And the people waiting in line behind us were nice, too! You KNOW things would not have fared so well had we been holding up a line in NYC.
Anyways, all went well because a few minutes after we got off the phone with you, our dear N suddenly asked, "Wait--would the reservation be under the driver's name?" You should have seen the guy's face--it was priceless! I started chuckling, and he was like,"Um...who's the driver?" So, all ended well when he quickly found [J1] listed on the roster, complete with a reservation for a mid-sized vehicle. Much merriment ensued, and we drove off into the sunset. Literally. Sunset in MI is a little after 9 pm.
It took us a while to get to his place, a little over an hour. We stopped to eat ravenously at a Subway along the way. His family was waiting, almost wide awake, for us when we finally got in after 10:30pm. They're the type of family, I have learned, who likes to sit down together in the family room and "talk." So we had to say hello, hugs went 'round with the introductions, and we sat down in the living room to talk. But, I was exhausted--it is DARK out there in farmland, so I was driving very cautiously, brights flickering on and off throughout a long detour on a country road, and feeling very guilty as fireflies smashed into the windshield, glowing as they died--so I really had to stretch myself to be half as charming as I think I am normally. Teehee!
They finally let us get to bed a little after 11 pm. No, wait. If memory serves correctly, our trip took a lot longer than an hour. We didn't get to bed until midnight. And these are people who normally go to bed at 10 pm. At the outside latest. fn2.
Anyways, Sabbath morning we were up and had family breakfast at 8 am, followed by worship. Got to church, on the DOT, at 9:30 am in time for Sabbath school. Church service was nice, their pastor is a very animated speaker, and I enjoyed his sermon, except I kept nodding off because my 7 am wakeup time started getting to me.
After church I met all their friends/nosy church women who've heard about "a musician from NY!" The usual hobnobbing, you know how that goes. For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone was. We had lunch at home--yummy casserole!--and then zoomed off to the wedding.
We had his sister, R[], in the car with us, and that was very nice. She is just the sweetest person, not a bad bone in the body. And not in a cloying, annoying way--she's just a genuinely good person. We talked quite a bit all weekend until she left. I really appreciated her friendliness because I know that she's normally a shy person. fn3.
The wedding was beautiful, great church with lots of light. Not too big, about 100-150 people. [BRY]'s mom has a large family. Like, Asian large. Tons of siblings, some of whom weren't even there. These siblings already have grandkids, like 4-5 kids per family. Lots of cute white kids running around the reception hall.
And, yes, since I know you're wondering about now: I was the ONLY Asian at the wedding. In fact, the only other colored people there were the wife and kids of one of the Caucasian groomsmen. Very cute kids, as you can imagine.
Anyways, by the time it was time for the buffet line, I was about ready to pass out. Between trying to learn everyone's faces and names, and who's married to whom, and trying to break down N's mom, I was pooped. AND, they only eat 3 times a day!!!
So I was ready to cry with a headache the size of Lake Michigan, and actually started to FALL ASLEEP in my chair at the dinner table. N's mom caught me, and quickly leaned over to tell her son so that he could help me out. She was actually in a very good mood by then (I think the family reunion and wedding really helped melt the iceberg within) so when I heard whispering, my eyes popped open, and I found the whole family smiling and chuckling at me, but in a very nice way.
So we were finally dismissed for the buffet tables and we all ate copious amounts of very bland food. There was little conversation due to extreme hunger. But after recovering, we actually had a fun time. I was ecstatic to find out that many of Nathan's aunties, uncles and cousins are funny, bright and kind people. And they dress normally!!! One of the favorites, Aunt V[], was decked out and accessorized appropriately by Chicos. They seemed to really like getting to know me....
Oh boy. This has turned into a very long account! This is why one such as I should never try to keep a blog. It would simply derail into a rambling mess, overrun with the weeds of needless words! I'll definitely tell you more when I see you....
Suffice it to say that, all in all, it was a long but productive weekend. His dad really likes me, as does his siblings. Especially J[]. I kept having to avoid his gaze because I'd catch him staring at me during family talking times. Slightly disturbing, but basically harmless. More on that later.
I think his mom was torn. She really wanted to like me--who couldn't love the WOJ?--but Nathan and I could tell she was trying to pull herself back. But the family was so hospitable, they let me sleep in R[]'s room. The food was extremely healthy but tasty, which was lucky for me since I was experiencing caffeine and sugar withdrawals, along with fatigue from missing my usual 6 meals a day....
So that was our weekend, at least from J1's perspective. From my perspective, I thought it was great. Of course she was charming and lovable, as she always is. I can't say how much I appreciate her spending time with my family like she did.
1. K1 knows, as well as anyone, that the purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people. You certainly do not want hordes of them coming after you. I mean, one time, I saw a ninja totally uppercut a kid just for opening a window.
2. We didn't leave the airport until well after 9:00. Then, with the stop in Jackson to go to Subway and a very long detour, it was nearly 11 when we got home.
3. Actually, R[] was with us for the ride home. On the ride down, my brother J[] was in the car. It was pretty hilarious, because J1 had him so intimidated that he couldn't even tell his usual unending stories that no one really wants to hear.
Rather than babble on and on about it, I will republish J1's account of the weekend, because she's way funnier than I am and it will give you all a different voice to read here. She didn't have a copy of the email, so I had to have K1 send it to me. (To prompt K1 to send it to me, I threatened her with hordes of ninjas, which motivated her to act quickly. fn1.)
So here's J1's story. I will insert my comments as necessary:
(As [another friend] would say:)
GRRL! How YOU doin'?? We missed you guys this weekend! Man alive, it was a loooong 2 days. We were only gone for, like, 48 hours, but it was packed. We got in late, of course. Our plane was delayed a couple of hours, and that's why when I called you from the rental car counter I sounded a "bit" stressed.
What was nice was that these were, hands down, the nicest car rental employees ever. I mean, there was no hint of impatience, no one sighed with frustration, they just kept suggesting different ways to find [BRY]'s name on their reservation list. Meanwhile, N and I felt better since they clearly weren't upset with how long it was taking. And the people waiting in line behind us were nice, too! You KNOW things would not have fared so well had we been holding up a line in NYC.
Anyways, all went well because a few minutes after we got off the phone with you, our dear N suddenly asked, "Wait--would the reservation be under the driver's name?" You should have seen the guy's face--it was priceless! I started chuckling, and he was like,"Um...who's the driver?" So, all ended well when he quickly found [J1] listed on the roster, complete with a reservation for a mid-sized vehicle. Much merriment ensued, and we drove off into the sunset. Literally. Sunset in MI is a little after 9 pm.
It took us a while to get to his place, a little over an hour. We stopped to eat ravenously at a Subway along the way. His family was waiting, almost wide awake, for us when we finally got in after 10:30pm. They're the type of family, I have learned, who likes to sit down together in the family room and "talk." So we had to say hello, hugs went 'round with the introductions, and we sat down in the living room to talk. But, I was exhausted--it is DARK out there in farmland, so I was driving very cautiously, brights flickering on and off throughout a long detour on a country road, and feeling very guilty as fireflies smashed into the windshield, glowing as they died--so I really had to stretch myself to be half as charming as I think I am normally. Teehee!
They finally let us get to bed a little after 11 pm. No, wait. If memory serves correctly, our trip took a lot longer than an hour. We didn't get to bed until midnight. And these are people who normally go to bed at 10 pm. At the outside latest. fn2.
Anyways, Sabbath morning we were up and had family breakfast at 8 am, followed by worship. Got to church, on the DOT, at 9:30 am in time for Sabbath school. Church service was nice, their pastor is a very animated speaker, and I enjoyed his sermon, except I kept nodding off because my 7 am wakeup time started getting to me.
After church I met all their friends/nosy church women who've heard about "a musician from NY!" The usual hobnobbing, you know how that goes. For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone was. We had lunch at home--yummy casserole!--and then zoomed off to the wedding.
We had his sister, R[], in the car with us, and that was very nice. She is just the sweetest person, not a bad bone in the body. And not in a cloying, annoying way--she's just a genuinely good person. We talked quite a bit all weekend until she left. I really appreciated her friendliness because I know that she's normally a shy person. fn3.
The wedding was beautiful, great church with lots of light. Not too big, about 100-150 people. [BRY]'s mom has a large family. Like, Asian large. Tons of siblings, some of whom weren't even there. These siblings already have grandkids, like 4-5 kids per family. Lots of cute white kids running around the reception hall.
And, yes, since I know you're wondering about now: I was the ONLY Asian at the wedding. In fact, the only other colored people there were the wife and kids of one of the Caucasian groomsmen. Very cute kids, as you can imagine.
Anyways, by the time it was time for the buffet line, I was about ready to pass out. Between trying to learn everyone's faces and names, and who's married to whom, and trying to break down N's mom, I was pooped. AND, they only eat 3 times a day!!!
So I was ready to cry with a headache the size of Lake Michigan, and actually started to FALL ASLEEP in my chair at the dinner table. N's mom caught me, and quickly leaned over to tell her son so that he could help me out. She was actually in a very good mood by then (I think the family reunion and wedding really helped melt the iceberg within) so when I heard whispering, my eyes popped open, and I found the whole family smiling and chuckling at me, but in a very nice way.
So we were finally dismissed for the buffet tables and we all ate copious amounts of very bland food. There was little conversation due to extreme hunger. But after recovering, we actually had a fun time. I was ecstatic to find out that many of Nathan's aunties, uncles and cousins are funny, bright and kind people. And they dress normally!!! One of the favorites, Aunt V[], was decked out and accessorized appropriately by Chicos. They seemed to really like getting to know me....
Oh boy. This has turned into a very long account! This is why one such as I should never try to keep a blog. It would simply derail into a rambling mess, overrun with the weeds of needless words! I'll definitely tell you more when I see you....
Suffice it to say that, all in all, it was a long but productive weekend. His dad really likes me, as does his siblings. Especially J[]. I kept having to avoid his gaze because I'd catch him staring at me during family talking times. Slightly disturbing, but basically harmless. More on that later.
I think his mom was torn. She really wanted to like me--who couldn't love the WOJ?--but Nathan and I could tell she was trying to pull herself back. But the family was so hospitable, they let me sleep in R[]'s room. The food was extremely healthy but tasty, which was lucky for me since I was experiencing caffeine and sugar withdrawals, along with fatigue from missing my usual 6 meals a day....
So that was our weekend, at least from J1's perspective. From my perspective, I thought it was great. Of course she was charming and lovable, as she always is. I can't say how much I appreciate her spending time with my family like she did.
1. K1 knows, as well as anyone, that the purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people. You certainly do not want hordes of them coming after you. I mean, one time, I saw a ninja totally uppercut a kid just for opening a window.
2. We didn't leave the airport until well after 9:00. Then, with the stop in Jackson to go to Subway and a very long detour, it was nearly 11 when we got home.
3. Actually, R[] was with us for the ride home. On the ride down, my brother J[] was in the car. It was pretty hilarious, because J1 had him so intimidated that he couldn't even tell his usual unending stories that no one really wants to hear.
posted by N at 3:54 PM
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