Monday, March 31, 2014

Honeymoon in Australia!

The fashion for holiday hotspots changes often, Australians have a love affair with Europe but most notably Turkey. However Australia seems to be a place that many people want to visit. Most Americans I have met want to visit, but our most faithful fans are the Japanese. Particularly honeymooning couples and their families. The reason is at least partially economic. The birth of a daughter in that country means the parents have to start saving for the wedding. A Japanese wedding is incredibly expensive, $100k or $200k are unremarkable expenditures.

Some years ago a Japanese soap opera showed two of its stars marrying on a beach in Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast Australia). From then on we were a popular destination. It seems it was cheaper to fly the immediate family and the bridal party here than to pay for the ceremony at home. [I understand that this may be or has already changed. In ceremonies it is becoming more common for people pay a hefty sum to attend the reception.]

There was a disturbing development that arose from this trend, bridal suicides. The bride, having discovered what a pig she married and looking at the social impossibility of divorce and the fact their family has just shelled out a huge sum for the wedding, see no option but to leap from the balcony of their luxury apartment. As a result, a special Japanese speaking hotline has been established and leaflets promoting the service are in every hotel room, hoping to talk these desperate women down from the edge.

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