Oink, Oink.

Yes, that’s right. I wrote “Oink, Oink,” and not “Happy Valentine’s Day.” I feel like a bit of a pig. And not because of what I ate, but because of what I said. It was the “perfect” ending to a “perfectly odd” day.

Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t really a bad day. Sure, a lot of annoying things happened, but what’s new, right? By the time I got to my evening company class, I was in a pretty good mood. I have two back-to-back classes, and I’ve been teaching most of the same students for years, so I can get away with a bit of joking. But tonight, I put my foot in my mouth…

By the way, today is Valentine’s Day. So let me take this opportunity to say, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” In case you didn’t know, the Japanese have co-opted Valentine’s Day, and the end result is something quite different than what the rest of the world is used to. Basically, women have to give men chocolate, and men can return the favor one month later if they want, on White Day.

Now, back to my story. I didn’t do as well this year as I did last year. In fact, I hadn’t gotten any chocolate all day (not that I really wanted any. I need more junk to eat? Not!) And actually, I had gotten some chocolate and gifts from some students a week before. So I was not worried about it. But just for laughs, at the end of the first class, I stuck out my hand and said, “The gentlemen can leave, but ladies, 「ちょうだい！」” 「ちょうだい」or ｢頂戴」if you use kanji, means “please give it to me…/please do (something) for me.” So it sounded like i said, “GIMME!!!” There were four women, and about six men. Everyone laughed. It was the kind of thing a spoiled little kid would say.

In the next class, there was only one woman, and she had joked during the lesson that she had spent all her money on chocolate for her male co-workers. At the end of the class, I repeated my joke, and she turned around and pulled a box of chocolates out of her bag. I protested that i was only joking, and all the guys laughed, but she insisted that I take it. It was her last box, she explained, and she wanted me to have it.

The fact is, she probably meant to give it to me at the end of class, anyway. She certainly said so, but who knows if that is true. It might sound crazy, but I felt a bit bad. If you are thinking, what is the big deal? You have to realize that everyone, including foreigners, gets wound up tighter than a piano string here, worrying about manners and face. It’s pretty silly, really, but no one wants to look stupid.

After class, a couple of the guys I know really well stayed behind and we laughed about it. The said I was a really bad guy, and they teased me. That’s ok. I always tease all of them. And now our class will have a joke that I can bring up in the future. Jokes are important, because to learn and communicate, you need to relax. And most Japanese find that hard to do in a company English class.

That’s why I asked for chocolate. Yeah, that’s the ticket! In the final analysis, I’m not broken up over it. The chocolate was fantastic!

Useful Links

If you’d like to learn more about Valentine’s Day in Japan, check these sites out:

• About.com’s article on Valentine’s Day in Japan
• Wikipedia has information about Valentine’s Day in Japan, and also White Day.
• Wikipedia also has a useful table, listing every holiday in Japan.