Happy Valentine's Day.

Today is Valentine's Day as everyone knows (well, maybe) Those of you in America celebrate by giving your significant other a gift: chocolate, candy, flowers, a blender, or some other romantic gift. In Japan, things are kind of different. Here the tradition is for girls to give thier boyfriend/husband chocolate. Not candy, not flowers, not anything else but chocolate. I was talking to one of my female students and she told me that her husband HATES chocolate. When I asked her what she was going to give him, she said she bought him some chocolate fondu. There is just no way around it, apparently.

Well, I broke the rules this Valentine's Day. Jin also does not really eat chocolate or sweets, but he DOES likes dried squid and is partial to alcohol so I bought him some Japanese Sake and dried squid, and cooked him his favorite fish for dinner. He seems happy.

Valentine's Day is not the only occasion today. Today also happens to be my 1 year anniversary of being in Japan. Some days it feels like much longer than a year but most, I can't believe how quickly it has gone by.