No, Really, I Am an American

I passed the eve with some friends from uni tonight. Scott and I have been trying to find time to get together ever since I got back, but for some reason or another we just didn’t have the chance to meet up. Admittedly, it’s not like I’ve been up to much, but there was that week when I had plans for every single night and then he was out of town last week. We finally had to go ahead and schedule something all kinds of officially to make sure we’d be able to pull this off.

Scott invited me out to his place for a night of take-out Chinese. I know it doesn’t sound all that exciting, but when he first proposed a gathering he asked me if there was anything I really wanted and at the time, I hadn’t had take-out Chinese yet. I told him about some nights where I was simply craving the stuff but didn’t have access to it ‘cuz Japanese Chinese food isn’t the same as American Chinese food. He thought that sounded crazy, so I had to explain to him that just because the countries are close to each other doesn’t mean the cuisine tastes the same. He laughed about that, but agreed to the menu.

Scott used to live in Downer’s Grove (and if memory serves, VoW and I know connected peoples somehow). Before I left for Japan, he moved to a townhouse in Aurora, though. I’d been there once before, back when he first moved in, but I wasn’t the one to drive down there, it was my former roommate Dorothy. I was a bit apprehensive about driving there tonight by myself, partly ‘cuz I don’t have a GPS thingy, partly ‘cuz I’ve never had to drive on I-88 and was worried about going the wrong way, and partly ‘cuz I knew I’d be driving during rush hour traffic. I originally planned to leave Schaumburg closer to a time when traffic wouldn’t be so bad, but when I talked to Scott this afternoon he said he hoped I would make it there closer to 6:30 so I could be one of his witnesses. He’d mentioned something about doing him and his fiancee Carolyn a favor or an errand or something of that nature and at first I didn’t think anything of it. But then while we were on the phone he said his parents were coming to his place around the same time and we would all go to the church together. I guess before he and Carolyn can set a wedding date they have to go through a series of hoops, one of which is having witnesses meet with the deacon and sign something saying that they’re stand-up folk or some such. Once I learned this I was out the door and on my way to sit in traffic. It only took me about an hour to get there, and it wasn’t like I was sitting on the road for a long time so I didn’t think it was too bad. A little nerve-wracking but not too bad.

We had a little time to kill before his parents got there (I made it to his place at like 6:15) and during that time one of his other witnesses arrived. Mike Cole is a fellow I knew at uni, but we didn’t really know each other very well. We were all in the Big Red together (Scott, Mike, Dorothy, and I), but Mike was on drumline and neither Scott nor I really knew the drummers that well. In fact, Mike and Scott only recently became better friends.

When Scott’s parents arrived, we were on our merry way to the church. I rode with Mike, which was only a little awkward since we didn’t really know each other. It was pretty five-by-five though ‘cuz Mike’s a pretty casual guy. On the drive over, Mike got a call from Dorothy. She was on her way to meet us at Scott’s but Mike had her meet us at the church instead. She beat us there actually.

The whole bearing witness thing was a bit odd. The deacon guy had to meet with each of us individually and we had to sign this official document thing. The deacon guy seemed amiable enough; he made a few jokes and such before we got things started. One of the things that amused me was the fact that when he was introduced to me, the first question out of his mouth was “Where are you from? I mean, what is your background?”

What the hell is it with people asking me what my background is? I mean, it used to happen a lot at the Denny’s in Bloomington, and it happened in Japan although the question was usually “Are you Chinese?”, but it rarely happens to me here in the Chicago-land suburbs. I told him I was Chinese and Filipino and he asked me, “Kamusta na?” (“How are you?”)

“Mabuti naman.” (“I’m fine.”) Seriously. The guy just wanted to use his Tagalog. It’s funny ‘cuz most people see the Chinese in me before they see the Filipino, or so I’ve been told.

Anyway, Scott’s mom went first while Scott, Scott’s dad, Carolyn, Dorothy, Mike, and I waited in the office-type area. Scott apologized to us (his friends) for the situation. He wasn’t sure what the deal was with the witness thing and I guess he was surprised by the whole individual signing bit. When Scott’s mom emerged from the room, his dad went in next. The deacon guy just asks basic questions about the person we’re representing or some such and then he apparently analyzed Mrs. McCambridge’s signature.

I joked around saying that if the deacon guy asks me how I know Scott I’d have to tell him that he’s one of my sisters. In fact, he was the president of our sorority at one time. Dorothy was one of our sisters, too, so we thought it would be funny if we didn’t explain that it was a co-ed thing. (And hell, Carolyn was one of our district counselors.)

When my turn came, I think it seemed like I was in there for the shortest amount of time. The questions weren’t very hard, although the last one needed to be repeated for me. Later, Scott joked and said that question was asking whether or not I knew if he was impotent or not (there was something about “giving children” to his wife or some such). I signed the form saying that my testament was true and then he analyzed my signature too. I thought that was a bit odd, and mildly amusing ‘cuz it seemed that his analysis of my signature was the same one he gave to Scott’s mom. Something about being organized and setting lofty but not unattainable goals. I wondered vaguely if that was what he told all of us. Although, he told Scott’s mom that our signatures were very similar and had a lot in common once my part was over.

Dorothy, Mike, and I departed thereafter. Scott and Carolyn had to stay to do their couple thing, and Scott’s parents were gonna take Carolyn’s new car for a test drive (Scott’s dad works for GM). The three of us went back to Mike’s place since it was closer and right across the street from where we were ordering Chinese.

I finally got a chance to talk with Dorothy a bit more. I couldn’t help but laugh ‘cuz D hasn’t really changed much. Still always hungry and sleepy. She filled me in on our other friend Sarah, whose wedding was the one I referred to back in my post about wedding showers; although, she and that fellow already went their separate ways and now she and Dorothy are roommates. Both of them are teaching and such.

We three walked to pick up the food not long after we ordered it. Mike used his card and told me and Dorothy to put our money away. “Besides, Scott said he’s paying, so he’ll just give me money when they get to my place.”

We made good time, too ‘cuz but five minutes after we returned from Chan’s, Scott and Carolyn knocked on Mike’s door. We had American Idol Gives Back on in the background as we had our dinner. Scott apologized for the crazy witness thing and thanked us for putting up with it. I didn’t mind too much, I just wasn’t expecting to do it initially. I’m glad I was able to help, though.

I wish I could say we spent a lot of time together catching up, but unfortunately for us that was not the case. Everyone had to get up early ‘cuz of work. Dorothy was the first one to part company, and she griped about her junior high kids as she put on her shoes. Scott said something about her trumpet players to which Dorothy replied “It’s B fucking flat!” (I guess they’re having some trouble with their first valves and or reading flat and natural.) Yeah. Dorothy definitely hasn’t changed.

Scott and Carolyn drove me back to their place so I could pick up Addison. I went with Scott to look up the route home real quick since I wasn’t exactly sure which way I wanted to go. We agreed to meet up again, and maybe next time I would go with them to Sakura, their usual sushi place. I guess at their restaurant the servers don’t speak a lot of English. I dunno that I’ll be much help, but I think it will be nice to have that experience again for when I’m especially Japan-withdrawn.

I’d like to say I made it in time for hijinx at the Halfway House (it was only about 9:30 when I departed from Aurora)…I should have made it in time for the tail end of hijinx but despite looking up the directions on how to get home I still took two wrong turns ‘cuz I’m just that smart. I was trying to work backwards from the way I got to Scott’s, but when I was going to turn down one of the streets that took me to the house in the first place, there had been an accident and I had to do this weird U-turn deal so I made a right turn instead of a left turn and somehow that screwed me up in my backtracking. Also, when I got to 59, there was no sign indicating that it was indeed 59 so I second-guessed turning. It wasn’t until I saw Nequa Valley High School that I definitely knew I should have turned on the unmarked street.

Anyway, I missed out on the Halfway House gathering and I was admittedly disappointed. But all in all, it was a nice evening out with my friends from uni. I hope the next time we meet we’ll have more of a chance to talk.