Daddy's birthday ends the birthday rush in my family starting from February. Mike was only 22 years old when we first met. I was sitting at the college cafeteria, eating my lunch with some Chinese friends. They lived in the same dorm with me and we sat together sometimes at meal times. I didn't know them very well and they all spoke in Chinese while we ate, so it wasn't so much fun for me. I didn't have any friends then since I just moved from another city in Idaho, so I really didn't have much choice. So, there I was eating my cafeteria meal when I saw a tall guy holding a tray walking towards our direction. One of the Chinese friends waved at him and invited him to sit down. He sat down next to me as it was empty. The Chinese friend introduced me to him and told him my name and where I came from. I had just gotten back from working in Mexico, so she'd mentioned that I speak Spanish fluently.
I was very fluent in Spanish then. I had lived in Mexico for nearly eight months teaching Japanese and English at a language school. Some Mexican students at the dorm did a double take when they heard me speaking in Spanish. People mistook me as a Mexican in the dark since I didn't have any accent. Anyway, the Chinese friend explained to me that Mike had just gotten back from Hong Kong and he speaks fluent Chinese and Japanese. At first, I didn't think much of it since I have met many American who speak Japanese. When he spoke though, I was quite impressed that he spoke without much buttery American accent. He looked at my eyes and I looked at his. I thought something clicked but later found out that he was thinking that I have many pimples.
He asked me to teach him Japanese to keep his skill level. I said yes since I didn't have anything better to do and I loved teaching. I had stacks of teaching materials since I was a teacher anyway. I was in fact excited because I was feeling a tad depressed for not having much to do other than studying. I was an older student, 24, and living in the dorm at more "matured" age was not easy. I lived in the dorm when I was 18 and then 20 to 21. I didn't mind the communal bathroom and shower then and seeing party people acting crazy on weekends. But like a solo sober guy at the bar, things that were fun in late teen aren't so much fun anymore. In fact, I changed my dorm from a bigger double occupancy room to a single more quiet one. My dorm life didn't last long though as I moved out after a year.
Meeting new friends and building life were not as easy as before, so I was happy that I met a new tall guy named Mike and glad to give him a Japanese lesson. I was ready to teach him with enthusiasm, but I noticed that he didn't want to be "instructed" much. I would explain to him about grammar but he would change the subject. Maybe he doesn't really want to learn, I thought. Later, he told me that he just wanted to get to know me. As a former teacher, I really had a serious commitment to purely teach him. As we spent more time together though, I started to look forward to our meetings.
Our first "date" was the International Student Association's Halloween (ISA) party. I casually invited Mike to go to the party and he said he wanted to go. It was a costume party, so I dressed up as a Native American girl and invited another Japanese friend to come with me. This Japanese girl was a sneaky girl and it turns out she had a soft crush on Mike. She was jealous that things were going well between Mike and I, so she wanted to steal him from me (an eye roll). I know she played the sexy wink and helpless puppy eyes on Mike and I witnessed them myself, but Mike being so clueless had no idea about her very obvious advances! Gotta love poor Mike! I invited Mike to the party as a friend but he thought it was a date. He still thinks it was a date so I will call it a first date. The reason why he wasn't happy during our first date was because I was quite a popular dancing partner from many Mexican students. I went to clubs every weekend in Mexico and I knew the latest and the greatest of the Mexican style dance moves. They thought it was amusing that a Japanese girl was dancing and talking like a Mexican. Being jealous, he took me out of the venue and we spent some time talking.
I really don't know when we started to officially date but we got a lot closer after I came back from Japan after the winter break. He picked me up at the airport and looked very excited to see me. He told me that he missed me a lot and realized how important I was to him. He was very sweet. I told him that I liked him, too, and we spent more time together then on. We were that annoying love birds at our first Valentine's Day date at a Japanese restaurant. We sat next to each other despite having a seat across the table and just stared at each other's eye's holding hands the entire time. We giggled and kissed and if my kids saw it, they would be grossed out. The dinner date left a big impression on me though and I still remember it clearly. I always think, I must always remember and make that day a goal when I feel detached from romance world being swallowed by the day to day chores.
We broke up once when Mike told me he could not promise the future together. It was a very sad day for me and I cried and cried and ran to my friend's house and bawled some more. It was hard to explain. I knew that we were meant to be together, but things were not lining up. Mike came over the next day and we decided to date again. We thought there is no reason to break up for the future. We should enjoy time together and decide things later. Youth is a funny thing because I was also planning to move to Seattle to study computer. I think I still was not ready to commit myself. When you are young and single, you don't think you are a part of an unit. Free as a bird and I was as happy to fly away when a right opportunity came even though I had a boyfriend. However, I was accepted to a graduate program at the same university. So, no Seattle for me, I thought and decided to stay and nurture our relationship.
After three years of dating, there came a time one night when we were waiting for a red light in my car, Mike said to me "Kimi, I love you". I was caught off guard and didn't know what to say. His parents should be proud because Mike never uttered the word "love" before that to me. He takes the world very seriously and I felt the significance of the phrase he said that night. Things happened very fast after that. Mike came with me to Japan and asked my parents for the permission. As a parent now, I both dread and dream of the day my children's partner ask for my permission. What would I say? My Dad handled it well and told him yes in a very long lecture like way, explaining what he hoped for us. He must have been sad and proud that his little daughter had reached a big milestone. When my little girls brings a guy home... I might as well bawl.
Honestly, I don't know why I wrote about our love story. I think I thought about Mike's soft pink cheeks (he used to have a triangle shaped red cheek.marks that lights up whenever he was warm) when I think of his youthful days. He is not 22 any more, but he will always be the sweet tall guy I spent my last college days with. Happy Birthday, Mike! We are both aging nicely, with expected success and failures. We are learning from our experiences and feel like we are on a great path to feel a great satisfaction in our senior life together. We will work hard and prosper.
Ok, so on his birthday, we had a nice dinner at home with his Mom and the whole family. I made some copper river salmon ala cedar plank with roasted lettuce and quinoa salad. They turned out great, I think. We finished off with a chocolate ice cream cake from Cold Stone and sang him the birthday song. For gifts, he received a Seahawks clock from kids, Seahawks preseason game tickets from his Mom, and an inversion table from me. Oh and (drum roll please) he bought himself a new car!! A brand new Toyota Highlander Hybrid! I will write about it in my future post, but it's a really nice ride. I am afraid to drive it though since it's just so pretty, but I will get used to the idea real soon!
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