I once heard that the only way for something to count as truly having happened is if it has happened twice. Today begs me to believe that that is true.
I took off work and instead went up to Taichung with Fiona and baby to visit the man who is generously offering a beautiful, 4 foot tall Amitabha statue from his collection for the shrine in the Buddhist center in Asheville, "Urban Dharma, NC." I had been under the impression that the last time I had made the trip up we had discussed all of the possible details, and the only thing remained was to put it in a box and ship it. When I arrived, however, the statue was in the same place, no more ready to be shipped than before. We talked about the same details as before, and then decided that I should come up within a week's time to officially see it off. So, perhaps things do need to happen twice for them to really happen.
Then Fiona, baby, and I followed the man up to his house in the mountains. It wasn't high into the mountains, but mountains were all around it, as well as farms, steep roads, and groves and groves of persimmon trees which were in full production. He had built a two floored concrete and steel structure, with lots of open spaces next to a stream. Because of the steepness the area, and perhaps the way that the structure fit into the landscape, you could barely notice it after you walked by it. He had landscaped the place with great boulders and streams and everywhere a place to sit in absolute silence. We ate lunch and drank tea.
On our way home, Fiona and I decided to get married. We had finally received the Affidavit that claimed that I was single and eligible to marry, and we had been bringing it around with us ever since. So we stopped off in Baihe on our way home to fill out the necessary papers. Baihe is a small place and correspondingly their Household Registration Office, and those employed there, are not familiar with processing marriages with foreigners. At one point, three women were circled around a computer with paper all over the desk, and I heard someone say, "do I enter the name in all capital letters?" Fiona's father even left early before it was finished (he had come to give Fiona some necessary papers that he had had). I ended up playing with William who had been stuck in a baby seat in a car for most of the day. It made me think of how restless he would be on a plane when we returned to America.
When we finally left, I had to ask Fiona, "Wait--so are we married now or not?" Well, we are married now, at least officially--that is, unless things have to happen twice before they can really be said to have happened at all. Won't we be getting married again in June in Pennsylvania in a real ceremony? So for now, I will continue to believe this little thing, whether it is true or not, that things don't really happen until the second time around.
Because the processing took longer than expected, I ended up being late for my afternoon classes. Oh well, now I just need to convince my boss that the first time doesn't count.
I took off work and instead went up to Taichung with Fiona and baby to visit the man who is generously offering a beautiful, 4 foot tall Amitabha statue from his collection for the shrine in the Buddhist center in Asheville, "Urban Dharma, NC." I had been under the impression that the last time I had made the trip up we had discussed all of the possible details, and the only thing remained was to put it in a box and ship it. When I arrived, however, the statue was in the same place, no more ready to be shipped than before. We talked about the same details as before, and then decided that I should come up within a week's time to officially see it off. So, perhaps things do need to happen twice for them to really happen.
Then Fiona, baby, and I followed the man up to his house in the mountains. It wasn't high into the mountains, but mountains were all around it, as well as farms, steep roads, and groves and groves of persimmon trees which were in full production. He had built a two floored concrete and steel structure, with lots of open spaces next to a stream. Because of the steepness the area, and perhaps the way that the structure fit into the landscape, you could barely notice it after you walked by it. He had landscaped the place with great boulders and streams and everywhere a place to sit in absolute silence. We ate lunch and drank tea.
On our way home, Fiona and I decided to get married. We had finally received the Affidavit that claimed that I was single and eligible to marry, and we had been bringing it around with us ever since. So we stopped off in Baihe on our way home to fill out the necessary papers. Baihe is a small place and correspondingly their Household Registration Office, and those employed there, are not familiar with processing marriages with foreigners. At one point, three women were circled around a computer with paper all over the desk, and I heard someone say, "do I enter the name in all capital letters?" Fiona's father even left early before it was finished (he had come to give Fiona some necessary papers that he had had). I ended up playing with William who had been stuck in a baby seat in a car for most of the day. It made me think of how restless he would be on a plane when we returned to America.
When we finally left, I had to ask Fiona, "Wait--so are we married now or not?" Well, we are married now, at least officially--that is, unless things have to happen twice before they can really be said to have happened at all. Won't we be getting married again in June in Pennsylvania in a real ceremony? So for now, I will continue to believe this little thing, whether it is true or not, that things don't really happen until the second time around.
Because the processing took longer than expected, I ended up being late for my afternoon classes. Oh well, now I just need to convince my boss that the first time doesn't count.
