Turtles and Koalas Engagement Party Downunder

12　August　－　22　August, 2006 PART 2

Sorry for the long wait . u know the story life is busy blah blah blah.... Anyway the Down under trip comes to an end....
On Friday August 18th,2006....After a quick day tour of Bris Vegas and some last minute shopping, Kame and I headed back to Ferny Hills. On the train Kame was very nervously trying to finish writing and practice his speech for the party Mum and Dad had organised for that night. Mum and Dad started organising a Hello/Goodbye Party a few weeks before, as it was the first time in a while that they had had all 3 of us kids under one roof even if it was only for a week or so. And soon they would have to say goodbye to the baby of the fam, Leanne, who was venturing on a European trip for 6months. Then Kame and I stole the limelight by deciding to announce our engagement, so it turned out to be quite a party.
And what a great party it was. It was awesome catching up with old school mates, drinking mates, housemates, family friends and new friends. Plus it was the first time for many to see Mum and Dads new place in Ferny Hills. Kame and I wanted to keep things really low key so most people didn't know about the engagement until that night, which really added to the fun atmosphere of the night.
Thank you Mum, Dad, Kevin, Leanne and all our great friends who made out night so special. Here are some photos as a reminder of an awesome night had by all.

Kame Down Under

８月１２日　－　２２日, 2006
PART ONE　
この度、blogを始める事にしました。　Kim & Kame のこれまでの諸々を書いていこうと思います。　まずは、僕（Kame）がAustraliaへKimの家族に初めて会いに行った
時の話から・・・。
僕らが結婚を決意したのは2006年の3月です。　僕はKimの両親に挨拶をするためにAustralia行きを計画し、英会話schoolに通うことを決めました。
普段、僕とKimの会話は僕が日本語、Kimが英語というのが自然なスタイルです。
お互いそれが一番楽なんです。　　しかし、Kimの両親と真面目なお話をするのにそれはマズイので、3ヶ月間Shane English schoolに通いました。　
どうにか３ヶ月学校に通ったものの、自分のレベルが上達したのかどうか・・・？
とても“喋れる様になった！”とは思いません。
とにかく、８月のお盆休みを利用して生まれて初めてAustraliaに行きましたよ！
日本の真夏はAustraliaの真冬なんですけど、全然暖かかったです。Brisbaneは。
それに、緑が沢山あって、綺麗な野鳥が沢山飛んでいて、広くて、空気のいい、そして
みんながとてもfriendly! なところですよ。

ついに、Kimの両親と空港でご対面です。　緊張したのはほんのひと時、すぐにrelaxしました。　ていうか、relaxさせてくれる人達で良かった！
車で３０分走って彼女の実家に到着。　よく整備された綺麗な住宅街の一角に、ありましたよ！Eldridge家が。 裏庭や、テラス、でかいバーベキューグリル、さらにはキャンピングカーまで！　羨ましいぞ！OZ life.

そして家族みんな（Kim,両親、弟＆彼女、妹）でGold Coastへと３日間の旅行に
行きました。　道中は大きな渋滞もなく、道路もきれいで、driverのマナーが良いのにびっくりしました。　だからとても走りやすいところ。
途中、友達のライアンの家によりBBQ partyをやりました。　やっぱり出てくるでかいBBQ stand.　すっかりご馳走になり、ホテルへ向かいました。

Gold coastのKirra beachというところで、冬ということもありそれほど混んではなかったです。　　でも、全然寒くはない、ていうか暑い。
その日の晩は、近くに住むEldridge家の親戚一家と一緒にdinnerです。
その一家になんと日本人がいましたよ！ジュリアスとエルフリーダの息子の　マーカスの奥さんはさちこさんという日本人です。
彼女は大阪出身で、イギリスで仕事をしてる時にマーカスと出会ったそうです。
そうそう、Miaちゃんっていう二人の子供がかわいかったなぁ・・。

Kirra beach の近くのgreen mount beachでサーフィンしましたよ。
レンタルのでかいボードで、パワーのある波に挑戦したけど、揉まれて帰ってきました・・。　その後currumbin wildlife sanctuaryという動物園に行って、コアラを抱っこし、カンガルーと戯れ、クロコダイルを触って、アボリジニーダンスを見て、ダンサーと一緒に写真を撮ったら、「アリガット！」って日本語が返ってきた。

この動物園散策？には僕にとって重要な意味合いがあって、実は彼女のお父さんに例の挨拶（お嬢さんをください！みたいなやつ）をするべく機会をうかがっていたのでありました。　なかなかお父さんと二人きりになれないし、Kimには「まだなの！？」と
急かされるし・・。　緊張し、焦ったひと時でした。
しかし、ついに言いましたよ。“I want ask you for　your daughters hand in marriage”
するとお父さんは、“already”と一言。　僕はその一言が “もうすでにokしてるよ”
という意味だと思って安心し、お父さんも英語で、「君はKimのbest partnerだと思うよ。」といってくれたのです。　まあ、一段落ついて一安心です。

Kirra beachを後にして、僕とKimだけでByron　bayというAustralia大陸で一番東端にある観光地に行きました。　その場所も本当にきれいでロマンチックなところで、海では鯨に、イルカに海亀まで見ましたよ！
その日の夜は、満天の星空、月明かりが照らす海、心地よい波の音。　そこで僕はKimに指輪を渡しました。

Turtle goes downunder

12　August　－　22　August, 2006
PART ONE　

We could start right at the beginning, but WHEN is the beginning? When we first met?, When I came to Japan? Hmmmm.....
Anyway we have decided to start WHEN Kame went to Brisbane, Australia to meet my family.

We had already discussed marriage in March 2006, but Kame decided that he really wanted to do the traditional western thing ask Ron (My Dad) in person.So we booked our flights and let the fam know that we were coming over. Next Kame decided he had to brush up on his English, but after joining Shane English School for 3 months, 2 lessons/week Kame was still very shy about speaking English.

So while I was in Australia ,2 weeks before Kame joined me, every time anyone asked me

"How's his English?" My response was always"I dunno. He can understand most things cos I only speak to him in English, but I've never heard him speak, he always answers me in Japanese."

Well the morning Kame arrived at Brisbane airport, Mum Dad and I were waiting for him. i didn't recognize the man who walked off the plane. not only had he swapped his boy-ish jeans, bright t-shirt , bright orange sneakers and cap trademark for smart pants, shoes and a jacket, but the man could speak English.!!! Gee did I look like a liar.
Kame was really amazed at the size of our house compared to the Japanese houses, and the fact that we had a front garden and a back garden. But then Dad shocked him even more by cooking breakfast.

But not to worry Kame soon shocked us all after breakfast and proved just how good his English skills were when Kevin(my 31yr old bro) and I were having a friendly SSGS (sibling shit giving session). Kame had brought some Vitamin Jelly for me from Japan and I was explaining to Mum, Dad, Kevin and Leanne(my 20yr old sis) that they were the best hangover cure.

Kev threw a typical younger bro fat comment my way by asking "Why do you need more jelly Kim, don't you already have enough?"

I quickly threw back in Japanese. "Urusei, Kono yaroo"

All eyes turned to Kame. "What did she say?" Kev asked him.

Kame very casually answered "shut the f##k up", quickly followed by a gasp,　quick glance at my parents and a really embarrassed "Oh !!! I am so sorry"
We all pissed ourselves laughing and I think Kame was surprised but relieved at every ones reaction to his not so perfect translation error.

So of course everyone loved him straightaway, especially when after four hours of being in the country he was out in the back yard helping Dad fix the fence. I think he was trying to make up for the "Shut the f##k up" comment. Better watch out Kame,next trip Dad might have you rounding up the sheep, mate. Especially if you get any better at English.

The next few days were great. We hired spent a few days at Kirra Beach, Gold Coast in a 3bed room apartment. On the way we stopped in at Nerang to see Ryan Mac and Sarah for a S.A/Aussie BBQ. Ryan Mac and his fam are old friends of our from South Africa. When Kev and I were growing up in SA our families used to go caravanning together every school hols. so we go way back. Ryan and Sarah recently got married April 21st at the Gold Coast and are honeymooning in South Africa. Congrats you guys from us both.
Anyway while we were staying at Kirra we also managed to catch up with Elfreda(my Fathers cousin from South Africa) and her husband Julius, who have been living in Nerang for at least 20yrs now. Their son Markus who is married to a lovely girl from Osaka, Sachiko, and Mia(their little girl) also came with. We all headed down to Kirra Surf club for some tucker, beers and family bonding.

Another highlight for Kame was a few hours of surfing at greenmount beech. He was very excited to get to surf in real waves. We also went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary where he got to hold a koala, a baby croc and pose with aboriginal dancers. he finally got up the courage to speak to Dad about getting married in the reptile house of all places. Anyway Dad said "Already" which Kame interpreted as I said yes already, but maybe Dad was asking already? as in so soon. Dad has a habit of answering questions with questions so sorry Dad if you didn’t mean yes.... that’ll teach ya..ha ha

The next day Kev, Rachael, Kame and I left Kirra for Byron Bay. After lunch at the famous Yatala Pies, we arrived at Byron and headed straight　for the lighthouse. After that Kevin and Rachael went to their accom and Kame and I found a lovely place to stay at Julians Apartments It was fantastic. we dropped of our stuff and headed into Byron to look at the shops, and walked back along the beach as the sun set back to..Julians
..After a few drinks and dressing up we decided to go back to our youth and head out clubbing, so armed with a mix of cc and lemonade we heading into town, grabbed a burger and hit the bars/clubs. at about 2am we decided to walk home to sober up. Kame proposed to me as we were having a rest on the beach. The moon was shining on the ocean like a spotlight, the waves were gently crashing, the sky was filled with stars and the air was cool and fresh.... it was perfect.
AND ABOUT BLOODY TIME I RECKON cos I aint getting any younger. Ha ha

The next day wasn’t so cool cos we had to drive from Byron to Caboolture for a 2oclock MRI appointment. But I only was seen at 6pm. But it was all covered by Medicare thank　god cos they still don’t know what wrong with my hand。 But that’s another story that I don’t wanna go into. the friday nite we had a party at my parents place...but thats the next blog..cya