My best friend, Kristine Owen, married Max Wood on August 21st, 2010. The wedding was set on Gabriola Island, a tiny picturesque island off the shore of Vancouver. There’s nothing more I can say except that I am extremely happy for her and that the two of them know how to throw a party.
How did Kristine and I meet? Let me show you what she had written down on her wedding page about our friendship. Why? Because I cannot write as well or as articulate as her; two, it’s already been written and I am lazy:
Ana, a.k.a “Anabanana”, “Nana”, “Anners”, “The Number Seven in Japanese” is “Sista from anotha motha”, best friend, co-conspirator, and number #1 partner-in-crime to Kristine. Their meeting in university is now the stuff of legend and folklore, and the memory of their numerous mischief-laden collaborations likely haunt many a East Asian Studies faculty member to this day. Kristine often claims that she is at a loss to explain how or why she ended up in JAPAN (of all places) for three years of her life, but if the blame can be placed on anyone, it is most likely Ana’s fault. A happy accident, for if it weren’t for Ana and her evil influence, Kristine’s life wouldn’t be as rich or as varied or as PLAIN FUN as it is today.
Ana is the girl who introduced Kristine to Japanese culture through “miruku” and the Chinese kanji character for “princess”; Ana is the girl who used to tear Kristine up with laughter when she’d forget how to count stairs or the number of plush Hello Kitties sitting ON the stairs after a few drinks at a house party; Ana is the girl who translated the infamous “Smelly Cat” song from the TV show Friends into Japanese so that Kristine could belt it out (to the chagrin of Ono-sensei) for a Japanese final presentation; Ana is the evil cohort who used to crash East Asian Studies graduate conferences with Kristine for the sole purpose of stealing sushi; Ana is the girl who used to set ancient Japanese haiku to modern commerical jingles and sing them (to the chagrin of Dr. Brown) in the hallways before class; Ana is the girl who always maintained a sense of humor in JAPAN 250, even when NOBODY ELSE thought it was funny when Kristine accidentally sent things flying off of her desk. Ana is the brave soul who dared to steal pork ribs right off of Kabata-sensei’s plate at that OTHER East Asian Studies conference she and Kristine crashed. Ana is the girl who’s been there for Kristine through triumphs and break-ups; Ana is the friend who visited Kristine in Japan not once, but TWICE. Ana has always been one of Kristine’s biggest inspirations and cheerleaders, and for that, Kristine has always felt extremely blessed to have such a wonderful BFF as Ana in her life.
Favorite memory from New Years, 2005: Strung out on brandy beans, malibu and pineapple, and falling out of our chairs lauging our @$$es off at that essay, “So You Want To Learn Japanese?” (Excerpt: “The Japanese writing system is broken down into three separate, complete, and insane, parts: Hiragana — all of which look completely different and bear absolutely no resemblance to each other whatsoever, Katakana — all look exactly the same, and it’s impossible, even for Japanese people, to tell them apart, and Kanji — letters that were stolen from China; roughly 4 million embodiments of your worst nightmares.”)
There are not a lot of people I can honestly say that I love who are not my sisters, but Kristine is like a sister to me. I love you Kristine. Seriously.
Love you long time.
I am overwhelmed with the sudden urge to read this essay.
It’s pretty long and detailed. It will contain a lot of names from the Japanese department. It’s silly silly silly.