Tokyo Wedding

Last December, I was asked by two friends from UF, Tyler and Mana, to MC their wedding reception in Tokyo...in Japanese. I agreed to do it because I want to get more comfortable talking in front of a crowd...you know, one of those "life skill" things. Whenever I do speak, I feel a little nervous, but apparently I look way worse. So to make sure things went smoothly, I worked on my dialogue for several months with my Japanese teacher, who would tell me where I should pause and make sure my intonation was correct.

Saturday was the day of the reception, and although I felt prepared and felt no nervousness, about a minute into my opening speech, I could feel myself start to tense up. I'm sure it was noticeable, but I hope not distracting. People laughed at my jokes, which helped me to loosen up. Also, when I compare this to a little 30 second self introduction speech I did to a small group of old ladies a few months ago, I can now tell I've gotten a LOT better.

I think the secret is not to want to impress anybody. As soon as I want to do that, then I become self-conscious and nervous. At the beginning of the reception, I think I was trying to impress Mana's relatives. But as the reception progressed (and I had a few drinks in me), I stopped caring and think I did a better job. I was told by some of Mana's relatives that they were all worried when they heard a foreigner was going to MC the wedding, but were relieved cause I did a good (passable?) job.

Check out Ben's (the photographer) blog for some great pictures:

B. Whitlock Photo Blog

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Okinawans always tell me how much better their wedding receptions are compared to the more 'formal/stiff' Japanese weddings. The argument is that at a Japanese wedding, you have to wait for the toast before drinking, which is a good 15-20 minutes into the reception. At an Okinawan wedding, people start drinking as soon as they sit down at a table. Also, at the end of an Okinawan wedding, there is usually some kind of song that gets played on the sanshin and everyone gets up and starts dancing. Therefore, more fun.

Well, getting to drink early is always a plus, but the wait wasn't that bad. And yes there was no dancing at the end, but other than those two things, this wedding was identical to the Okinawan one I went to. You eat a lot of great food, then you sit through some speeches by friends, followed by some musical entertainment.

And let me tell you, Mana's family is filled with talented musicians.

So take that, Okinawa weddings.

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Another great thing about going to the wedding was that it was a chance for me to go to Tokyo again. Every time I go, I am always surprised at the amount of people and the amount of things to do. However, this time, I was walking around the city during working hours, and I swear salary men have no souls. The city was full of zombies in business suits, and I was a little unnerved.

Note to self: don't work for a company.

Then it becomes night and the city comes to life. I got to hang out with a lot of old friends and met some cool new ones. One of the highlights was talking to a Korean man at a bar, who is fluent in Korean and Japanese. He is a Tae Kwan Do master with 800 students who says his master founded Tae Kwan Do and had students such as Chuck Norris. I got his business card, and if I do move to Tokyo, I know where I will be continuing karate.


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I will be going back to Tokyo again at the end of the month for a week with Roy. We are going to climb Mt. Fuji to see the sunrise and then off to Fuji Rock!