I found out something interesting last night. Apparently I'm getting married.

I eat a lot at a Nepalese restaurant (once every couple weeks), and I know the staff there pretty well. The main waiter speaks English very well, and he tends to ask me lots of questions about English, or different things I say. Saturday night I went in to get some curry and he was there. He asked me when I was getting married. I said, "Excuse me?" He repeated the question, phrasing it a little differently. I thought maybe he was confused about Malaysia ('l's and 'r's sound the same to Japanese people). However, he said he wasn't confused, so I asked him why he thought I was getting married. He said that Victoria's parents had come all the way from England to meet me. (Note: Victoria took her parents to this restaurant during their visit, but without me). Anyway, I clarified that it didn't mean we were getting married, just that her parents came to visit for Christmas. I said that Christmas in many Western countries was a good time to be with your family, and that they just wanted to visit her. He looked pretty embarrassed, but obviously understood.

It kind of has me wondering if meeting someone's parents is the last step before getting married in Japan. So I found it a little strange, but I am curious to find out more about this.