In the most bourgeois act since paying the monthly television fee, Cissy and me got married this morning. Registration of a marriage is a completely unspectacular procedure in Japan: We just went (without prior appointment) to the ward office, handed in our documents (including signatures of two witnesses who did not even have to be present), and that was it. The lady clerk made certain all the papers were in order (in fact, we had to correct some of them quite a bit), but if we had not asked for some proof to show to our embassies, we would not even have gotten a receipt. We both went back to work immediately afterwards.

The lack of glamour is probably a good thing, because we still have our engagement party in Germany coming up and I do not want its thunder stolen. The real wedding event will be in Shanghai in November.

I am going to keep my maiden name.