A Labor of Love or an Indication of Insanity?

Here in Japan, Valentine's Day is also celebrated -- but with a slight twist. Only women give chocolates to men. Currently there are all kinds of chocolates for sale -- fish shaped ones, red bean filled, green tea flavored -- you get the point! And for the exceptionally brave women, there are also every imaginable doodad for making one's own chocolates. When I first found this out, I figured I was safe. No boyfriend, no chocolates! However, the longer I have been in Japan, the trickier I have found this holiday. Come to find out, the recipient isn't always one's boyfriend. Last year, I missed Valentine's completely (I was having a date with Mr. Mono!), but according to Sarah, at her school, the female teachers joined together to give the male teachers chocolates. Then, last March on White Day (the men's holiday to present gifts to the women) I received cookies from one of the male teachers at my school. (No massive panic alarms went off though -- I could easily be his third child!) After research on Wikipedia and a excerpt from a Japanese drama, I found out that yes, teacher's give each other chocolates. But, then one of my kids asked me if I was going to give them to one of the single male teachers chocolates (which totally made him and I blush. Yikes, what was I going to do??? Since I couldn't get any clear answers, and none of my female teachers were providing me with any guidance (not that I dared to ask) I finally decided the best option was to play the "gaijin" card. Now gaijin in Japanese means "alien" (you know, like ET -- oh wait, I am ET) and as hard as I try to follow the great proverb by St. Ambrose Toyota "when in Japan, do as the Japanese do" occasionally its a lot more convenient to just be foreign. Valentine's Day seemed like a perfect opportunity. However, instead of completely ignoring the holiday, I thought I would add an American twist; hence, 34 boxes of Conversation Hearts -- one for every teacher at my school -- both girl and boy! Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

I think there are two universal phrases -- "Happy Birthday" and "To/From." All American Valentine's candy is all decorated with "To" and "From" on it and in Japan (where they TRY to make English the second language) everyone knows what it means. So, I was faced with two options. Play the "gaijin card" again and write everything in English or this time follow St. Toyota and "do as the Japanese." This time, the blonde hair didn't rule out, and I spent a good two evenings attempting to write 34 Japanese names in Japanese!!!! Ahh......... Well, all's well that ends well. Everyone at school was totally excited -- the guys were tickled to get candy; the girls were thrilled to not be left out; my horrid Japanese was a hit, and my Principal turned bright red! (and was completely relieved when my vice-principal told him that everyone else got candy too). So I guess it was worth it. Now, if I just keep on telling myself this, maybe my next project (typing the entire English and Japanese versions of "Oh, the Places You'll Go" for my graduating seniors) won't seem so....so insanely loving!