The Mall
Tonight I met her father and his wife.Previously I had met her mother when they came to visit on my second night in Tokyo. We had planned to go to a nice restaurant where her mother, her mother's husband, her beautiful sister, her cute neice, and her very nice brother in law would officially meet me. But since we got the bad news at the hospital that morning, we decided to just have them come over to her apartment for a visit.
Her mother is a real pistol. Very petite, talkative, animated, funny. We had a good time and I got to eat lots of new kinds of sushi and lord knows what else. They kept putting things on my plate and I couldn't keep track of all the names. The salmon roe sushi things were my least favorite. The phrase "burst of flavor" applies, but it wasn't to my taste.
Anway, I met her father today. They were coming to visit the fiance at the hospital and would stick around to meet the American who impregnanted her. Well, they don't really look at it that way, but I couldn't help thinking it. They're actually very happy, as I think it is important for them to see their daughter get married and have a family.
The meeting went very well. The fiance translated and it seems the father and I have some things in common. Both of us are a bit on the quiet side. We both enjoy our drink (although his drink it bourbon, mine is beer). We both like fast cars (what guy doesn't).
He was a new CL series Mercedes that my fiance is not sure how he affords. He also has a flat screen plasma tv, a spanking new digital camera (one of the nicest I've seen), and is very generous. The fiance told me about how I wanted to buy some souvineers for my friends, but that I was having trouble doing that with her in the hospital. They offered to take me to the a mall that is very close to the hospital. I said, sure, not wanting to seem anti-social.
So, off I went with her father and his wife to "The Mall" as it is called. Of course, his new Mercedes is pretty hot. It even has a futuristic DVD navigational system that tracks his movements with a GPS device and displays real time traffic info.
Communicating only through gestures and broken English and Japanese, we made our way through the mall. They insisted on paying for all my gifts, and it was useless for me to argue. They made it very clear that they were going to pay and that was it. I know the Japanese are big gift givers, so I did not want to seem rude. I would just return the favor by sending them some very nice and expensive gifts when I return to the states.
We returned to the fiance's hospital room with loads of bags and we talked a bit more before they left. The fiance started to cry. They are very generous people, very nice. They would do anything for her and for her family, ...she appreciates them so much, but I guess they have a hard time communicating those feelings. She's never told him how much she appreciates all he's done for her, and how much she respects and loves him. I know he'd love to hear it.
I guess her x-husband took advantage of their generosity, and never returned the favor. When he betrayed her and callously treated the situation as if it was her fault, he was also slapping them in the face. I suspect this knowledge was also behind her tears. She hated that her x-husband hurt her, but she hates it more that he hurt them in the process.
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