The months are now flying by...

We celebrated another little milestone today... our minus one year wedding anniversary! In exactly one year, we will finally be a married couple! I'll have a wife! She'll have a husband! Scary stuff... but not really.

We've been apart for nearly 2 months now, and while it's still hard to be separated, day to day life is kind of getting to normal again. We're both settling into our relationship via the internet (bless MSN and webcams!) and we're getting to the business end of the visa application.

For those who've never been involved in visa applications, I'll give you a quick run down of what we're doing. We're applying for a Prospect to Marry Visa first: this means Satomi can enter Australia to marry me, as long as it's done in 9 months (the Visa's only valid for 9 months). As soon as we're married, we apply for a Spouse Visa. The Spouse Visa will apply for 2 years, before we are re-assessed and, if it's all still cool with Mr. Australian Government, Satomi gets a Temporary Permanent Resident Visa ("Temporary Permanent"??? Yeah... oxymoron is not a term the Gov is familiar with!). Then (still with us?) after 2 or 4 years, she will be allowed to be a Permanent Resident... I'm not sure when she will be allowed to become a citizen (if she even wants to, that is).

But anyway... that's ages down the track. Right now, we're focussed on the Prospect to Marry Visa. It's a rather involved and detailed process - but basically in addition to proving that we actually exist, and filling out all the correct forms and stuff, we also have to prove that our relationship is real and legitimate. Which, in itself, is a huge task.

Let me break it down for you. They are primarily interested in 4 key areas of our relationship that we have to prove: financial aspects; the nature of the household; the social context of the relationship; and our commitment to each other. Each area has to be supported by documentation, not just statements. We're working on them now, with a view to having all the paperwork ready to go by the end of April (ish?). It may also explain why I've been bugging some of you to send us Engagement Cards, filling out Statutory Declarations and such. Every little bit helps!

Of course, we have to also have a wedding planned. Which I am attempting to start in the midst of all this mayhem. I visited a celebrant last week, but we're not sure if we'll book her yet (she seems a bit expensive). I've also begun preparations for booking the place for the ceremony and reception (well... I'll be honest... "begun preparations" means I've been thinking about it... not much action, yet!). For those who need to plan their social lives one year in advance (and who think they're going to be invited!) we're planning on Saturday, March 22. I'm trying to convince Satomi of an early morning wedding, followed by a light brunch and some serious day-time drinking... how do you think my chances are? Luckily for me, we're both on the same page about what type of wedding we want: simple, no fuss, no worries. Basically, a quick beautiful ceremony, followed by some serious bonding with our chosen close friends and family. Unfortunately for reasons out of their control, Satomi's parents won't be able to make it - but her brother and sister, as well as her grandma are hoping to be here. Which should be really sweet.


Actually, while I'm on weddings, I have found some interesting facts about our commercialised world. One: when you register your details on a wedding website - don't ever put your real street address down! Within days of registering, my mailbox was literally overflowing with brochures, booklets, cards... basically paper products made into every concievable shape and size with pretty pictures and the "hard sell" labelled all over them (thanks soooo much, my darling Satomi!). Two - it's surprisingly simple to book a section of our "public parks" for a private function. Which in this case, I'm really pleased about... but don't get me talking about the philosophy of public places and how they're readily allowed to be screened off for private purposes. Three: I have no idea what an engagement ring is and how it differs from other rings. Sure, I know what a wedding band is and how that's fundamentally different... but how is an engagement ring different from a normal ring? And don't say price - that's obvious! And I don't think it's necessarily because I'm a guy... even most girls I've asked haven't been able to tell me.

So anyway, that's sort of where we're at right now. We're fairly well down the track of getting everything sorted for the visa. We've begun thinking about the wedding in a specific sense, and my trip to Japan in August is looming large (hopefully with the help of an SMS promotion through the new mX newspaper in Brisbane offering the chance to win a flight for 2 to Osaka! Fingers crossed!!!). Our relationship is actually strengthening, even through this physical separation. Not to make you all sickly or anything, but we're so in love that it makes me the happiest person on earth sometimes. And we seemed to have come out of our recent very tough predicament still together and close... I feel we'll be able to survive anything now.

Anyway... thanks for reading. Thanks for caring and thanks for your love and support so far. And as you probably know from reading the above... you'll all be needed in the weeks and months to come, I can assure you!

Love,
Ben