Michelle's speech at our wedding

My cousin Michelle gave this wonderful speech (in Japanese!!!) at our wedding. It gives you a good idea of our pre-wedding background, how we came to be here today. Thanks so much for your brave performance that day, Michelle!!!

Hi everyone, I’m Vivian’s cousin. My name is Michelle. Vivian and I have been really good friends since we were little. She grew up in the States and I grew up in Taiwan, we didn’t actually grow up together, but we still became very close. When we were little, Vivian was always the crazy one and I was the quiet one. She is always creative and full of quirky energy. We invented a brand name called Meggie. Meggie brand produces the most amazing products that include floating sandals you can wear on your hands that will magically transform a half-drown person into a fully competent swimmier. During a trip in Europe, we often entertained ourselves during those long train rides scaring passengers. We would stick two grains of pop corn rice on our braces and try to look like vampires. Vivian has continued to exert her quirky energy from childhood up until now. If you know Vivian, you would agree with me that she is one of the most loving and caring person you will ever come across. She’s probably also the most adventurous person you’ll ever meet, both inside the kitchen and outside the kitchen. She has this natural charisma that draws people together.

For those of you who don’t know Vivian directly, let me take a minute to introduce to you her background. Vivian Lee was born to her Taiwanese parents and grew up in Illinois, United States. During college years, she also spent four years in Canada, a country she often likes to pretend that she’s from. Four years ago, Vivian graduated from University of Toronto and decided to go work in Japan as an English teacher. She came to Japan because she wanted to experience living in an Asian country. A few of her friends who had already been working in Japan all came to like Japan very much, therefore she decided to give it a shot. She had absolutely no plan to stay in Japan more than a couple years. She came to Tsukuba and started working as an English teacher in Aeon. With her natural charisma, upbeat demeanor and superb English, she became one of the most popular teachers in the school in no time.

Now, let me shift gear and introduce to you tonight’s groom, Hirotsugu Yamada. Hitotsugu grew up in Yokohawa. He moved to Tsukuba as he started his job as an architectural researcher. When he was 32 years old, he got a chance to go to Vancouver for an international conference. All was very exciting for him except that he couldn’t converse with any foreign researchers because he lacked English conversational ability. He realized that he needed to improve his English, so he decided to go to an English conversation class. His co-worker recommended the school Aeon to him, At Aeon, Hiro met Vivian in his first class. Vivian was not the teacher then, she was just observing the class.　After that class, Vivian asked Hiro some questions (in the lobby area before class one day). But he couldn’t understand what she said. Finally Vivian gave up asking. It was the first time they talked to each other. So Hiro, did you ever find out just what Vivian asked you that day?

Since then, Vivian sometimes extended her party invitations to Hiro. They were able to make more conversation as Hiro’s English improved drastically. They became friends and discovered that they share many similar interests.

One day, Vivian asked Hiro out to dinner, he came out, asked where everyone was and Vivian said ”uh, ummm, there’s no one else coming” Hiro was surprised. Here I’ll quote a comment made by Hiro “looking back, that was the beginning of our life together” So, now we know who took initiative in this relationship. Vivian and Hiro began dating, however, soon Vivian was going to leave Japan. Vivian left these words for Hiro when she departed from Japan “I hope I will come back, maybe I will come back. “

Then, from 2004 April to November, Vivian left Japan and traveled the world. The long distance did not discourage the strong feelings they had towards each other. They exchange e-mails every day. Hiro had already captured Vivian’s heart, the nearly half a year separation only made Vivian more determined that she would not let this wonderful guy slip away from her life. So after traveling three continents and literally going around the globe, Vivian decided to move back to Japan for Hiro. Ever since that, they became serious with each other. They have been getting along so well that they decided to spend the rest of their life together.

When Vivian was in college, we never knew much about her love life. It seemed like she got bored of a guy easily, therefore she rarely went out with a guy more than a few dates. I thought it would be almost impossible for her to find the Mr. Right. Therefore I was shocked when I knew that the reason for her returning to Japan was a Japanese boyfriend. Although I didn’t know Hiro in person at that time, I knew he must be someone really special to be able to win over my cousin’s heart. Last month, I had the privilege of spending a long weekend with Hiro and Vivian. My assumptions about Hiro’s character were confirmed, he is extremely gentle, intelligent, fun, modest yet confident, patient and most important of all, he is able to put up with my cousin’s crazy ways.

When Vivian first came to Japan, a friend joked “Vivian, you should find a Japanese guy and marry him” Vivian sneered and replied something like “ha! that’s the last thing on earth that will ever happen to me” Of course now her friend teases her all the time for this. On the other hand, I believe that Hiro didn’t have any idea that his decision to improve English was not only going to be fulfilled, but it also was going to bring him a much bigger reward, a reward that he’ll take his entire life to appreciate. Love can overcome our pre-assumptions; Love has no boundary, and it knocks on your door when you least expect it. Congratulation, Vivian and Hiro on finding your true love.