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A Slight Hitch -marries a stranger
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The message is clear. Get married. The end.
After three years in LA, I'd pretty much become immune to the average Los Angelino. But when a 24-year-old Californian let herself into my apartment, it was worthy of a raised eyebrow. `Hi, I'm CJ, I met your roommate. He said you needed to get married to stay in the country. I'll marry you.'
It was that simple. I was only a couple of weeks away from Immigration running me out of the US, but marriage? To an obviously mad stranger? I looked her up and down. She had a flat stomach, and most of her own teeth. I accepted.
The true gravity of the situation started to become apparent when my fiance's mother called up to confirm the chapel. Apparently CJ's family would be attending. This was no longer the carefree affair I had imagined. What was I doing?
It was 11am, three hours till showdown. I woke up to a pounding on the hotel-room door. CJ was asleep. The less I remembered about this, the better. My best man was at the door to remind me I hadn't bought the rings, so we headed off to the mall. Fortuitously, this was located next to a bar. Having enjoyed `one last swifty' three or four times, we were left with ten minutes to buy the rings, grab a taxi to the hotel, get changed and meet the limo.
I hit the hotel room at a sprint, two $20rings in my pocket. CJ was still asleep. Not only were we horribly late but she still had to buy new shoes. I called the chapel. My panic was unfounded. Yes, I could reschedule. What about 4.20 or 4.35 or 4.50? I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then CJ tapped me on the shoulder. 'you do love me, don't you?' I hardly knew this person. I nodded and retreated to the hotel bar. By the time we were cruising along the trip, the 'I love yours' were flowing freely. I loved CJ, I loved marriage, I even loved the squat, bearded limousine driver.
The first stop was City Hall for a marriage licence. We each took a form -requring just name, address, date and place of birth, intended spouse. The laxity regarding identification also came as a surprise. All you need is a birth certificate. No passport, no photo ID. Next stop, the chapel. There was the family to meet: plus hordes of well meaning people from places I'd never heard of.
CJ sprinted up the aisle, dragging me with her. We stood at the altar. She rolled her eyes time 'respect and honour' were mentioned, then giggled 'I will'.
And that was it. I smiled and posed for photos afterwards but couldn't shake the empty feeling inside. I just wanted my bed.
The black cloud of the night before lifted with the sun. Morning had arrived. I hadn't been drained of the will to live. Maybe I could do this. 'So,' CJ finally said. 'Tell me about yourself. What do you do?'
Q1) Do you think that the writer's marriage to CJ will last? Why or why not?
Q2) Would you consider marrying a stranger if it was the only way to stay in a foreign country?
Q3) Do people take the idea of marriage seriously in Korea?
Q4) The number of couples getting married is falling in most of advanced countries. (They tend to live together unmarried.) Do you think marriage is a considerable issue in your life?
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