Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Again)

What better way to get over the disappointment of Valentine's Day than with a Girl's Night Out! (Technically, 3 Girls Nights.) I should mention that I did receive 義理チョコ(!), although it was half-giri/half-omiyage... in any case, not much in the way of romance. My friend from PII brought it back from Hokkaido where he went for the Sapporo Snow Festival. Cantaloupe from Hokkaido is supposed to be particularly delicious, so he brought back melon-flavored chocolate. Surprisingly delicious.

Thursday- Natsuko came into town for a mini-break, so I met up with her in Tokyo. I hadn't been to Tokyo since I first visited Japan when I was 14 when the labyrinth that is 東京駅 was enough to strike awe and terror into my jr. high school heart. Fortunately, this time I had a much stronger command of kanji and how to read signs so I was able to meet up with Natsuko without much problem.

Friday- I caught up on tv. Seriously.

Saturday- Rushelle and I went out for food and drinks with Ai and Yuki in Shibuya. Ai and Yuki are two of my friends from when I did a homestay in Okayama and went to Joto Senior High School. It was so much fun to see them! Talk about 懐かしい！(nostalgia) Before our conversations were limited to a few key phrases... as in:

Wow, it's cold! うわぁ！寒い！！

That's cute/expensive/cheap/strange.　可愛いね／高いね／安いね／変ですね

I'm hungry/sleepy/tired. お腹が減った／眠たい／疲れた

Let's skip class! サボろう！

Will you give me some? ちょうだい　(usually food or gum of some sort)

Actually these are essential phrases even now, study up.

Sunday- I went to the Edo Museum in Ryogaku with Yamashita Mama, but more on that next time.

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

St. Valentine's day. A day that the aroma of cacao turns on our heart. A day that had been always special for us. Bright and luxurious, specially dressed chocolates grant this weekend before spring, an important meaning. The fulfilled time that the theobroma brings. The story begins from the Valentine Eve.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Japan does indeed celebrate Valentine's Day. Unlike in the U.S. however, the gentler sex gets kind of shafted February 14th in that guys aren't obligated to do anything... say what? Traditionally, it's a day where girls "confess" their love by giving gifts, which in turn are reciprocated on March 14th (White Day). The gift of choice is chocolate, so much so that (うわさで) the week before Valentine's Day accounts for more than 10% of annual chocolate sales in Japan. Homemade chocolates are especially thoughtful... even more so when they turn out well. On the plus side, I've heard that when guys reciprocate, it's expected that they will buy more expensive gifts than what they were given. (Seriously, I'm not making this up!)

It's worth mentioning that not all chocolates are equal... While it may be tempting to think that you're Mr. Popular after getting loads of chocolates, chances are that you have been 義理チョコ'd. 義理チョコ (giri choko) aka "obligatory chocolate" is the chocolate that women give to their friends, bosses, or other male acquantainces to whom they might feel somehow indebted or want to be nice. When it comes to admitting your feelings, 本命チョコ (true love chocolate) is the real deal. I've been 義理チョコ'd myself... it's a sad business, but in the end at least you come out with some sweets, right?

If you plan on taking the plunge and getting some chocolate for that special someone, I highly recommend Vosges' Black Pearl Bar. It's dark chocolate with traces of wasabi, ginger, and black sesame seeds- making it crazy delicious and giving it a distinctively Japanese taste. I suppose it sounds kind of off-putting at first, but it actually tastes amazing- not spicy in the traditional sense, but the kind of piquant that makes all other chocolate seem plain and mediocre in comparison. I was hoping to find something similar here, but besides 抹茶 and イチゴ chocolate, milk chocolate seems to be the チョコ of choice. 残念 (*´ο`*)=3

The stories behind Valentine's Day and White Day are pretty interesting commercialism success stories. Check it out here.

In other not as delicious-sounding news, I finally decided on a project for the last quarter of IUC: the development of child health-related public health laws/policies. [crickets chirping] Yeah I'm still figuring things out. I think I will probably end up tweaking what I focus on as I do more research. I half thought of just copping out and doing something like the history of vending machines in Japan. Perhaps not.

楽しむために

It's February!!! So you know what that means to every true Yalie at heart, right? FEB CLUB!! That's right, the fun doesn't stop even after you graduate. Here in Japan, we celebrated International Feb Club on February 5th.

What's Feb Club you ask?? Only one of the greatest Elihu traditions ever~ 28 days of (un?)official Senior partying around campus. The practice has spread past New Haven to cities around the globe thanks to Feb Club Emeritus, aka Feb Club for Old People. It's basically just an excuse to get together with fellow Yalies and chillax, but oh~ it was so much more. For those of us who never got to patronize Mory's before it's untimely demise, it was a chance to finally learn the Mory's Cup Tradition. I'm still a little sketchy on the details, but essentially people pass around a cup with some mystery drink until the person who finishes the contents has the random task of drying off the cup with their head... which begs the question, what do you do if you're totally bald?... I digress. After that, the Cup is put on a paper towel to see if it's actually dry. If it is, you're awesome. If it's not... not so much I guess.

In case you want to practice this tradition on your very own, all you'll need is a big silver cup and these drink mixes:

• Red (Bottle of inexpensive champagne + glass of inexpensive rum + sour mix + grenadine for color + one cake of ice)
• Gold (bottle of inexpensive champagne + orange juice + a healthy pour of Cointreau + one cake of ice)
• Purple (bottle of inexpensive champagne + some purple stuff + one cake of ice)
• Blue (bottle of inexpensive champagne + glass of blue curacao + one cake of ice)
• Green (bottle of inexpensive champagne + some green stuff + one cake of ice)
• Velvet (bottle of inexpensive champagne + a pitcher of good draft ale combined + one cake of ice then a draft of Guinness poured slowly over the top.)

(The recipes and more details can be found on wiki.)

It was nice to see quite a few former Light Fellows living it up in Japan. It gives me hope that I won't always be a student and more importantly, might actually be able to support myself....someday... [anguished voice] someday.