Remember a month ago, February 14th, Valentine's Day?? Well, the Japanese celebrate V-day a little differently than the US. On February 14, girls give guys chocolates, cakes, cookies, candy...homemade, partially homemade (from a mix), or bought from a store, cute wrapping and all. Females in the business world (teachers included) often give "appreciation gifts" (perhaps more out of obligation than appreciation sometimes) to male co-workers, and occasionally also to female co-workers too. So, back on February 13, I spent the evening (and into the night) making heart and star shaped cookies and wrapping them up into darling packages for each & every staff member at my school--about 75. Even though I didn't get much sleep that night, it was fun & cultural to give out the cookies to my co-workers and friends on Valentine's Day. Students can also give "appreciation gifts" to teachers so I received a fun selection of the above mentioned sweets. It could all end there, but, then comes March 14: White Day. This is when a guy can give a gift to the girl he likes (and who, ideally, gave him sweets on February 14.) Co-workers who received something on V-day often reciprocate on this date too. And while I had been content with my late night cookie-baking frenzy for February 14, today it paid off in tangible ways. I received numerous boxes of sweets, including these memorable cookies from a group of elementary girls I stop to talk to every morning outside their school. Kawaii, ne? Cute, huh?
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