JO JO + JOSH
MARCH 19, 2017 at 4:00PM
THE FACULTY CLUB
2100 BANCROFT WAY, UC BERKELEY
This is the first chapter of our story. It will be our honor if you can come witness the beginning of the next chapter
ABOUT JO JO (by josh)
You know Jo Jo for three months and you would think she is a responsible adult behind a childlike face. And then you know her for three more months and you’d understand that it’s actually a child living in an adult body. That’s before you slowly realize that it’s really a little muse living among humans.
Jo Jo knows secrets that mortals don’t, such as whether something will be alright. She can give you tips on food, wine and health that are contrary to all conventional knowledge you know, and prove to be right. But she has a difficulty adjusting to earth sometimes: she grew up in Hong Kong but is afraid of cockroaches. She is a framed cardiologist but goes crazy for stuffed animals. She keeps the tags on presents given to her, because seeing things used makes her feel sad about the passage of time. She has to be kept at the perfect temperature and has no tolerance for physical pain, but would fight monsters to protect her loved ones and most of all, would sacrifice anything for love.
ABOUT JOSH (by jo jo)
Josh has been weird these 2 nights.
About 60% of the time while he's awake he's in a peri-crash state. He really needs a lot of sleep everyday. If he doesn't take a nap in the afternoon he usually falls asleep earlier than I do.
Yesterday when I was surfing the internet for wedding preparation I noticed that he was 'shaking'. So I turned to him and saw that he was completely asleep, laughing as if he was seeing the silliest thing on earth. Well the only time I have seen him laughing like that was when he looked at my silly pictures taken by him (like, he has a photo album named 'Jo Jo tries to reach', which is compilation of pictures joking about my height… sigh). I wondered what kind of dream he was making.
On the second night when I crawled onto the bed, he kind of noticed that and said to me in a tone like the lottery host, 'There is a box full of golden stuffed animals!'
'Huh?' I startled.
'There is a box full of golden stuffed animals!' He said the same thing again.
I could not control my curiosity and tried to wake him up, hoping that he'd still remember the dream. I asked him, 'what's that, what are you dreaming about?' 'No I don't remember...' He replied in a semi-conscious state.
This could be just a silly thing, but I was touched in my soul. People who has known Josh long enough must know that Josh always wants to be, and tries hard to act like, a manly-man, although he has a soul of a delicate woman who is sensitive to and compassionate about the smallest things in the world. The only thing that would be linked to 'silliness' and 'stuffed animals' in his life is Jo Jo (sigh again).
Now that Jo Jo is in not only in his life but also in his brain, in his heart and in his dreams.
OUR STORY (by josh)
On the day of his first date with Jo Jo, Josh happened to receive the news that his dream job (which he has worked toward for years and already got confirmation on) had fell through. When he told Jo Jo, she said, “You mustn’t give up. This stuff happens. I have worked toward for my current dream job for ten years, with no sign that I’d get it before this year.” And then she proceeded to tell him about all the vivid fiction stories she wrote when she was a child, inspired by her full-length, technicolor dreams.
Since then, Jo Jo really supported Josh through the ups and downs of his career (such as buying them tickets for him to give a UN speech in Ethiopia, where Jo Jo managed to get a heatstroke by walking outside for 10 minutes) and his life-at-large (including provision of excellent medical advice to Josh’s family and hygiene guidance to Josh). Josh, in turn, provided Excel tips and regression analyses on her papers, supply of snacks and sweaters (as she is always hungry and cold), and daily foot massages.
Above the foundation of their day-to-day care and support for each other, just like Jo Jo’s more fantastic fictions, they traveled the world hand-in-hand to partake in all its dreamy, unreal favors. Jo Jo taught Josh about haute monde cuisine and wine in French riviera, while Josh introduced Jo Jo to injera and tibs in a cliffside restaurant among the dark Ethiopian mountains. They traveled in the rain to pat sheep in Taiwan, walked alongside hundreds of deer in downtown Nara, and nuzzled capybara in a magical Fukuoka amusement park with no guest (and planning to see the Great African Migration!). Along the way they perhaps have left some marks, ones that are less desirable - like when Jo Jo taught Omo kids do to selfies with a “V” sign... - and ones that they hope to do more - like when they paid visit to an old lady who was robbed a night while manning the newspaper stand that she has kept for decades in Hong Kong.
In this way, hand-in-hand, silly smile next to frowning skepticism, backpack or briefcase, wondering and stationary, Jo Jo and Josh pace along in life, looking forward to adventures in the next chapters of their lives together.
THE PROPOSAL
(by jo jo)
'So, maybe we won’t take this trip?'
'No, I’m going to take you to the end of the world!' Josh insisted.
I thought seriously for a while, and asked, 'Is the end of the world Finland?'
'Why is the end of the world Finland?' Josh laughed.
'Hm... Because you can see aurora in Finland, right? Isn’t that the end of the world?...'
'…No! We are going to Morocco! With its borderless desert.'
I had to travel to Nice in the second week of June to attend a medical conference. Weeks prior to this, Josh told me that he wanted to take me on a big trip. So I planned to take an additional week off after the conference. This was in May. Waiting on no news until the beginning of June, I couldn’t resist anymore and asked, 'So, maybe we won't take this trip?' Then true to Josh’s habit, he suddenly realized time has flown and felt very guilty. Worse, Josh didn't only want to take me on a trip but want to take me to a desert! Practically planning on the night before I left to Nice would not be able to make it happen. So I suggested that we could go to somewhere in Asia after I came back to Hong Kong.
So I flew out to Nice as planned. On the next day my friends and I had lunch at a cliff-side restaurant, which we wanted to go for a long time. It was a beautiful place but was quite a drive away. Before we had the lunch, a waiter came by and asked me to receive a message by the door. When I went, I couldn’t believe what I saw: my favorite plush sheep was there sitting on the concierge counter! I immediately recognized that it must be Josh! So I asked the waiter, “Where is he?” The waiter pointed to an envelop next to the sheep, which I completely overlooked. I opened it but couldn’t understand the word 'terracotta'…. The waiter helplessly looked at me and decided to took me there instead.
I happily went down, and saw Josh waiting for me beside a 'terracotta' on the cliff-side. 'Oh, this thing is a terracotta.' I thought, 'Why is he flying here? Is he going to propose to me in this beautiful place?' However, he took me back to the restaurant and had a nice meal with my friends. Maybe I was thinking too much...
The next day, he took me to the 'perfume garden'. Well, it's not really a garden as such. Yes there were flowers but not many. Finally we settled next to a small rectangular field of lavender.
'Do you like lavender?' Josh asked.
'Yes.' I said, looking at the small rectangular field of lavender.
Then all in a sudden Josh kneed down and started mumbling in his classical romantic soft voice. As usual, I could not really make out what he was trying to say, though I know that it must be something romantic. Taken that he was kneeing down I guessed he could be proposing to me...
And then it started drizzling. So I was looking for a shelter in my heart.
At this moment, just in a true ‘Josh’ manner, he searched his pocket and said to himself (this time he wasn't mumbling so I could hear him), 'Is it lost...?' Luckily he managed to find it and pulled out from his pocket a ball of used paper, unraveled it to show me a ring.
We looked at each other. The raindrops have started to hit my face. Till this day I feel a little sad that I couldn’t hear what he said, and I really would like to hear them, but the fact was that I couldn’t hear him.
After some moments, he asked, “You haven’t answered yet!”
I thought if I don’t answer quickly, we would get drenched soon. So I answered, Yes!
THE
WEDDING
Ceremony will start at 4:15PM
March 19, 2017
Reception and Fun to Follow (bring your dancing A game)
The Faculty Club
2100 Bancroft Way
UC Berkeley, California
GETTING
THERE
TRANSPORTATION
Once in San Francisco or in Berkeley, we recommend using public transportation and Lyft or Uber to get around. If you are driving, we recommend parking in the Bancroft Parking Structure.
ACCOMMODATION
Claremont Hotel Club and Spa
41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley, CA 94705, United States
Hotel Durant
2600 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States
REGISTRY
Your presence at our celebration is already a great honor. and we consider seeing your dashing, attractive faces already our big gifts. If you would really like to get us something tangible, we are planning an exciting honeymoon to see the Great Migration in eastern Africa. Please feel free to make the honeyfund register below to make things easy!
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