strange connections

there's not really much need for this post, but...

i'm often a bit confused about family relationships here.

Eg I know someone who got married. She calls her husband Ani. This means 'older brother'. Isn't that a bit of a weird/ incestuous term of endearment?

Tomorrow we're all gearing up for a wedding from someone at church. His engagement was announced from the pulpit one Sunday a few months ago. No-one knew he was even seeing anyone. All a bit odd. And I never get the impression they spend much time together (well if they do, it's a lot more private than engagements/ relationships are played out in the UK).

Today, at a(nother) music practice for the wedding, I found out one of the guys is the groom's nephew. I had no idea they were related before. Then I found out that his grandad (groom's father) is the guy who often leads the Sunday service. Well I never.

When Mum & Dad came to visit, we got taken to the nearby Christian campsite (which, as it happens, is the venue for the wedding and reception tomorrow). Now, I knew the guy who was in charge of the site (didn't know his name mind you) and hadn't really thought about if he was married or not. Because I always saw him by himslef, I guess I thought he was single.

When we got to the campsite, we were greeted by some women, had coffee and snacks & discovered one of those women lived at the campsite. Now this woman i recognised from chruch, but assumed she was married to the guy she always sits next to in the services.

Later, we were talking about who lived at the campsite, and my confusion began. She mentioned herself & her husband, and 2 others I knew. "But what about the man who works at the campsite?" I thought. Then she said we would go to see her husband, and have tea ceremony together. (This was after the campsite owner had mentioned drinking tea, upon arrival in the car.) I was starting to put the pieces together by then, but it was only when we got to the 和食　? room that this was confirmed- the lady i thought was married to someone else, was married to the man i thought lived alone!

oh dear! I wonder what other suprises there are in store. I still can't quite figure out who the groom's sister/ my friend's mother is. Maybe all will be revealed tomorrow. But relationships aren't always that clear to outsiders/ others in Japan. Very strange indeed!

Oh but btw, now I know who this boy's grandfather is, explains how the grandson is a 3rd generation Christian. In a sermon a few weeks back, the pastor (a 2nd generation Christian), asked people to raise their hands if they were 1st generation (mostly), 2nd gen (some) or 3rd generation (rare). I don't know what I am! In Japan, missionaries came within the last 100 years or so, so there's not that much chance for Christian family heritage if that makes sense. The pastor mentioned someone he met who's a 7th generation Japanese Christian. That must be a record- he comes from Nagasaki, a port town where the first missionaries arrived. Definitely made me see church a bit differently with all that in mind! wow