The first thing that happens when you step off the plane in Taipei is that you immediately say, "Damn! I forgot how hot this place is!" Korea in the summer is hot. Florida in the summer is hot. Taiwan in the summer is crazy, brain-melting hot. It's the kind of stifling, humid hot that, if you're a sweat hog like me, you never truly get used to. I also remember thinking to myself, "Oh yeah. Mom and (my aunt) Nancy are gonna LOVE this. Hee hee." However, I was a man on a mission, and a little heat wasn't going to deter me. I met Rebecca, got on the bus to Taipei, and the adventure began.
Once Rebecca and I got settled into our hotel, we headed out into the teeth of a typhoon to Keelong (pronounced Jee-long) for a dinner with some of Rebecca's relatives. Because of the weather and a few pre-dinner errands, we managed to arrive about an hour late, but that didn't seem to be too big a problem. March a large western man, whose Chinese vocabulary consists of two words, into a room full of non-English speaking, soon-to-be-relatives, and it creates a bit of a distraction. All-in-all, it was a very pleasant evening full of good food and many toasts (A couple of the uncles thought it might be fun to watch me get drunk. Little do they know...hahaha).
The next few days were filled with wedding related activities including, believe it or not, dance classes. When Rebecca first broached the idea of spending money for dance lessons - she wanted our first dance to "be beautiful" - I was not thrilled with the idea. I figured we could figure out something for the wedding that would be good enough. However, much to my surprise, the lesson turned out to be fun, and we ended up with a routine Rebecca and I both enjoyed and got pretty good at. The funny thing was that during the actual first dance we both forgot different steps. Regardless, the lessons were fun, and, after watching the video, we did pretty well and enjoyed ourselves.
On August 6 (Rebecca's Birthday), Mom and Aunt Nancy arrived in Taipei at Oh-My-God O'clock in the morning. After a day of rest, Rebecca had to go take care of some wedding related stuff, and Mom, Nancy and I went off to be tourists. Our first stop was Longshan Temple, which is a beautiful little oasis in the urban sprawl that is Taipei. Given the heat and humidity, Longshan temple proved to be the only touristy stuff we did that day. We headed back to the hotel, stopping along the way for some very good sushi, and rested for while. The rest of the time leading up to the wedding day was a blur of activity from getting the marriage license (Rebecca and I walked out of the Keelong District Office and kind of looked at each other and went, "Wow. We're married. And went off for fried rice. lol), finishing the dance classes and getting the final fittings done for Rebecca's dresses.
Rebecca looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress. In fact, she looked awesome in all the dresses she wore that day, but seeing her in the wedding gown took my breath away. I was rather overcome by emotion as Rebecca walked down the aisle with her mom but managed to compose myself and got through the initial part of the ceremony with my dignity relatively intact. Looking at Rebecca, I could see her struggling with the same emotions, but she was under strict orders from the make-up team not to cry and managed to maintain some decorum as well.
After the first of Rebecca's dress changes, she and I had our first dance: a slow rumba to Ronan Keating's "This I Promise You". As mentioned above we forgot a few steps along the way but got through it okay and had a few laughs. Then I had my dance with my mom to Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" and for the second time almost completely lost it. I then danced with Aunt Nancy to Dolly Parton's "Family". Tears all around. lol
~ Nancy, it means the world to me that you gave my mom the opportunity to attend and that you decided to come as well. I will never be able to thank you enough for such a great and generous gift. ~
After another dress change, Rebecca and I handed out flowers to the guests and Rebecca gave the bouquet to one of her friends whose birthday it was. Then Rebecca and her friend Hedy performed a salsa dance which they had been practicing for a couple of months. This led to one of the very funny post wedding discoveries. Rebecca's brother-in-law, San Ji Fou (Chinese for middle brother-in-law), who was in charge of my camera throughout the wedding, had taken photos of only Hedy during the dance. These, of course, we showed to his wife, which caused much consternation for him, but a good laugh for the rest of us (are we evil or what? lol).
Finally, after another dress change by Rebecca, we formed a reception line to thank all the guests and take final photos and the wedding was over. It was an exciting, emotional, blur of an event. I have to say is that the wedding went exceptionally well. Everyone seemed happy, there was great food (although neither Rebecca nor I got to eat much of it), and no drama. For that, I have to thank Rebecca, who had to deal with the vast majority of the planning and stress involved in getting the whole thing done, and her family, especially her sisters for also being so helpful. It was great!
Decisions. Choices. Life is full of them. Sometimes times you make the right choice, and sometimes you choose wrong. Then there is the time when a choice comes along that feels so good and so right that you would have to be stark raving mad to ignore it. The decision to marry Rebecca was one of those good and right choices. I love her with all my heart and know that she loves me in return and hot damn it feels good!
