White Day | MMM-FRUIT!

Happy White Day!

In Japan, White Day is a holiday celebrated on March 14th and is a day of “giving back”. Women will usually receive gifts from the men who they gave gifts to on Valentine’s Day, and the gifts are usually of equal value or more. However, I learned today that some students will “give back” to teachers just for helping them in one way or another throughout the year. Today, I received gifts from two students: one who I gave a High School Musical 3 poster/postcard book to a few days ago, and one from a girl who I coached for an English Speech Contest back in October. Last year, White Day was a quiet day because it was just a few days after the Great Tohoku Earthquake, but this year, things seemed back to normal, and the girls were very excited to receive gifts today from their teachers, friends, and boyfriends. :)

In the photo above is everything I received for White Day this year! On the left, are the gifts I received from my husband: a box of assorted Aunt Stella‘s cookies, a box of Pâtisserie FRANDORE Belgian Truffles, and handmade white chocolates in the shape of Rilakkuma’s face! :) On the right, a variety of gifts I received from teachers (who I gave pound cake to on Valentine’s Day) and students: a box of Chez MICKAEL. シェ・ミカエルホワイトボールクッキー (white ball cookies), a box of Les Gâteaux Attachants Macarons, a container with handmade churros (チュロス), a bag of Karin Blume “lengua sand cookies” (not sure of the English word for these cookies – in the Philippines, we call them “lengua de gato” (cat’s tongue) but they are basically like sugar cookies?), and a bag of two homemade madeleine cookies. <3

I was very touched by the note I received from the first student. She asked me the other day if I knew about High School Musical, and she told me that she loved Zac Efron. I actually had brought a couple of poster/postcard books from the States but hadn’t found any student in particular to give them to, so when she told me this, I knew that she would appreciate the small gift. Actually, she was quite overjoyed – more than I realized – because she made the effort to write me a very sweet thank you note in English, which I’m sure took her a very long time to do. She’s the one who gave me the homemade churros, which I can’t wait to eat tonight. They look delicious!

On Thursday evening, I purchased a used copy of the book はじめての手づくりかぎ針で編みもの (ISBN4-277-43070-8) from Amazon.co.jp Marketplace. On Friday afternoon, I walked to 7-11 and paid for my purchase. Two hours later, the earthquake hit. On Saturday, I received an shipping notification from Amazon by e-mail. I received a separate message from the seller, which basically apologized for the delay in shipping, and to expect a further delay of 7-10 days due to the earthquake and tsunami. On Monday when I came home from work, I found the book in my mailbox. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even been mad if the book never showed up. I didn’t expect it to come for at least two weeks. But even during a natural disaster, business goes on as usual. It’s crazy. Talk about being resilient.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, today was White Day. Last month, I wrote a blog about how the Japanese celebrate Valentine’s Day, and briefly mentioned that men return the favor one month later on March 14th. I thought that the recent events might damper on this holiday, but I was wrong. When I came home, I received a box of Yokohama Francais “Mille-Feuille” and a box of Mary’s Chocolates “Fancy Chocolates” from my husband.

I also smiled with delight when I looked at my friends’ social media updates and found students were continuing with tradition as well. Below are the White Day gifts a friend of mine received at her school (she is quite popular, でしょう!).

The burger café I wanted to eat at for dinner was closed, so we went to an Indian-Nepalese restaurant for curry and naan instead. We ordered the Pair Set for ￥4,500 which included salad, soup, chicken tandoori, chicken tikka, butter-chicken curry, beef curry, cheese naan bread, garlic naan bread, a glass of white wine each, a non-alcoholic drink of choice each (we chose mango juice + guava juice), and dessert. Totally worth it. In fact, I had leftovers, and I was able to bring my leftovers home. While I ate dinner with my husband to celebrate White Day, I realized that I had been glued to the earthquake and tsunami coverage non-stop for more than 72 hours, even at work, scrolling through Twitter feeds and watching the news on TV with my co-worker. It was a much-needed break.

Happy White Day, everyone.

Take a moment to relax, breathe, and appreciate being alive.

MMM-FRUIT!

there is no such thing as too cute

Tag Archives: White Day

Happy White Day!

Resilient Human Nature