This collection of entries is from June 03, 2006.
I may have talked about this before, but I believe there's a phenomena that happens between Season Ticket Holders to a sporting event. Over many games, you start recognizing some of the people around you that show up in the sames seats, game after game. After a while, you may exchange pleasantries about the game. It may take years, but you may find out their first names. You may never find out their last names, but you start to learn non-sporting things about them - usually about family and maybe friends.
And then, rarely, you step outside of the sports arena and may see them "outside". And then there's the really outside.
Today, we were invited to a wedding... Sunday Jim's - a guy who has tickets behind us was getting married, so I felt we had to go, if not for the sense of friendship (which is tenuous at best since your only link is through your tickets) than for the shear curiosity of it.
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So, we went to Saints Volodimir and Olga Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukrainian Village in Chicago. Very nice, ornate, small church. The bride - Oksana - is from the Ukraine. The groom - Jim - Greece. We were shocked to find out that the man we've called Jim, or referred to him as Sunday Jim from our little "White Sox Family" was not named Jim! His real name is Dimitrios, or Dimitri! And yet, he's "Jim".
The wedding was scheduled for 2:30. SCHEDULED. Jim's limo and Oksana's limo pulled up outside the church at 3pm. The priest didn't look all that happy. The service was... interesting, as very few words were in English - basically just the vows. The rest were sung in Ukrainian (This has to show up in my next Podcast).
The service ended a little after 4pm.
The reception was at 7pm.
How could we kill the time? By driving up to Wrigleyville and visiting the remarkably recuperative Barry and Buffy. They were kind enough to offer us a haven to kill the time. We talked and snacked. We weren't too much in a hurry to now drive to Greektown to a restaurant called Venus. Other than "Jim" and Oksana, there was going to be nobody else that we knew - except Janie & Gary who had another wedding to go to but would try to make it afterward.
The reception was inside the restaurant - there's no "banquet" facilities there, so the wedding easily took-up 3/4 of the space.
We got there at about quarter after 7, thinking things would be in full swing.
Jim & Oksana got there a little after 8pm.
We started getting appetizers. We were seated at a table for 6, with two chairs empty for Janie & Gary, and we were joined bu Alexia - Jim's cousin, and her brother - Jim. The appetizers were fantastic.
The music started with a keyboard player. All Greek - no idea what was being played. Eventually, during the course of the night, he was joined by a guitar/mandolin/Greek-Stringed-instrument-thing player who doubled as vocalist. Alexia said that the guy sounded exactly like some big Greek star. We'll have to take her word on that. Eventually, they were joined by a percussionist.
Janie and Gary showed up at about 9 or 9:30. I can't recall. Between the loud music (we were pretty close to the stage) and the fact that WE HADN'T EATEN DINNER YET, it was all a blur. Jim (Alexis's brother, not the groom) made a comment that after all of this, he doesn't want to eat anymore.
We were served our dinners at 10pm, almost on the dot. And, to our disappointment, didn't live up to the appetizers. maybe a mjor issue was - it wasn't hot.
Needless to say, we ate and didn't stick around. On the way out, the bride and groom grabbed the four of us (me, Carol, Janie, Gary) for some formal pictures with them.
And then we escaped.
As we always say - we're going to have a good time or a good story, and I'm leaving out SOOooo many pieces!
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