ぶりに details
Examples
for the first time in — the marked duration measures the gap since this last happened, and it is happening again now
十年ぶりに再会した友達と、夜遅くまで話しちゃった。
juunenburi ni saikai shita tomodachi to, yoru osoku made hanashichatta.
I ended up talking late into the night with a friend I was reuniting with for the first time in ten years. casual
三年ぶりに実家に帰った。
sannenburi ni jikka ni kaetta.
I went back to my parents' place for the first time in three years. neutral
十年ぶりに開催される同窓会に、多くの卒業生が参加されました。
juunenburi ni kaisai sareru dousoukai ni, ooku no sotsugyousei ga sanka saremashita.
Many alumni attended the reunion, held for the first time in ten years. formal
Formation
期間＋ぶりに（三年ぶりに・十年ぶりに）attaches to noun phrase (schematic)
Notes
see." A different ぶり suffixes MANNER, not duration (話しぶり "way of
speaking") — same spelling, unrelated grammar, not covered here.
Related patterns
Similar
ことがある only asserts that an experience happened at some unspecified point in the past, with no timing claim at all; 〜ぶりに pins the EXACT elapsed interval since it last happened and asserts the same thing is happening again right now, which ことがある never does.
Opposite
- たばかりだplain-antonym
Opposite ends of the same "how long since" scale — たばかり marks the SHORT end, the action simply just finished with no earlier occurrence implied; 〜ぶりに marks the LONG end, the action is happening again only after a gap long enough to be worth naming, and it presupposes the same event happened at least once before.