Happy Valentine's Day!
お久しぶりですm(__)m
Long time no talk...(*cue awkward turtle*
)
バレンタインは日本でも人気なのだと、日本に住み始めてから知りました。
I only recently realized how big of a holiday Valentine's day is over here, after I started living in Japan.
アメリカでもポピュラーな日ですが、過ごし方が日本と少し違うと思うので、今日はその違いについて書いてみます
It's also quite a popular day in the states, but how we celebrate it is quite different, so today, I'd like to write about the differences between Valentine's Day in Japan vs the U.S.
①プレゼントは男女交換、もしくは男性から女性に
Couples exchange gifts, or men give their girlfriends/wives gifts
一番大きな違いがこれですかね。
This is probably the biggest difference.
日本では女性から男性に渡しますが、そもそも欧米には「お返し」をするホワイトデーという日がないので、プレゼント交換が多いです。
In Japan, I've observed that the dominant trend is for women to give chocolates to men, but since there is no day like "White Day" in the West, we usually exchange gifts.
バレンタインは愛を確認しあう日…恋人同士や夫婦間で愛を祝うため、圧倒的に多いのが男女関係なく、プレゼントやカードを交換することです。
Valentine's is a day to reaffirm your love...it's a day for couples, both new and old, to confirm their devotion to each other, so it is most common to exchange gifts and cards regardless of gender.
②WHAT IS 義理チョコ？！
日本に来て、義理チョコの存在を聞きびっくりしました
I was flabbergasted when I first came to Japan and learned of the existence of giri (duty/obligation) chocolates.
アメリカには本命にしか渡さないので、このような習慣はありません。
In the U.S., we only give gifts to our one and only, so this custom (and the societal pressure to give to others) does not exist.
日本人の友達が上司や同僚のために何十個もチョコを買っている姿をみて、「さすが日本…日本人にしかできない気遣いや協調性の国」と感心したものの、「バレンタインくらい自己中になって本命だけに集中して渡せれば良いのに…」とも思いました。
I saw many of my Japanese girl friends buying dozens of chocolates to give to their bosses, male colleagues, and others. As much as I was impressed at how far Japan goes with its collective emphasis on "consideration for others" and "cooperation/social harmony", I was also saddened to see such a custom. Just one day a year, can't women here just focus their energy and time on the one person they want to profess their love to?!
私もこの業界で働き始めて一年目、珍しくちゃんと日本のマナーを守ろうと、お世話になった男性何人かにチョコを渡しましたが、ホワイトデーには何も返ってこず…
The first year I started working in this industry, for once, I took care to follow this Japanese custom of women giving men Valentine's Day chocolates and gave some preeetty nice (read: expensive) chocolates to some people from my agency, senpai, etc. that have been good to me. BUT White Day came around and went...with me not getting anything in return.
アンフェアだ！女性が先に渡すから、投資したお金やエネルギーに対して何も得られないリスクを抱えるなんておかしな話！…と思い、あれからひねくれて一切義理チョコは渡してません。
"F@!# THIS!", I said (lol). It's unfair that women have to take the initiative and risk not getting anything in return for their investment, with men not having as much social pressure or moral obligation to give something in return. After this experience,
義理チョコはなくても、アメリカでは友達や家族にカードを送ることはよくあります。
Though we don't have giri chocolates in the U.S., many people do send cards to their friends and family.
最近だとEカードを送り人が多いようです。
In recent years, more people are doing this via e-cards instead of actual cards.
③プレゼントはチョコじゃないことが多い
More often then not, we exchange gifts that aren't chocolate
普段いけないレストランを予約して、おいしい食事を二人で楽しむ、というバレンタインの過ごし方が私の経験では一番多かったです。
In my experience, the most common way to celebrate Valentine's Day was to reserve a table at a restaurant we always wanted to try and enjoy the evening there.
大人になってバレンタインの日にチョコをもらったこともないし、あげたこともなかったです。
Once a became an adult, my chocolate-giving and -receiving days were over.
バレンタインカードを交換したり、バラが家に届いたり、ぬいぐるみやジュエリー、ランジェリーを買ってもらったり…が一番多いかな。
Valentine's Day cards are ubiquitous. Other common gifts are roses, stuffed animals, jewelry, and lingerie.
私の仮説なんですが。アメリカでは小学校の時はバレンタインは一大イベントで、各生徒がクラスメイトに全員チョコとカードを渡さなきゃいけないめんどくさい行事だったことから、「チョコ＝子供っぽい、子供の時に渡すプレゼント」という概念が私や似た体験をしたアメリカ人の中には染みついているのかもしれません。
This is my hypothesis, but in the U.S., Valentine's Day is a huge deal, so each student has to give chocoaltes and cards to every single one of his/her classmates, making it a somewhat stressful and burdensome holiday that involved a lot of menial work. From this experience, I and probably a lot of Americans associate chocolate-giving as something they were forced to do as a kid, which is why I tend to veer away from chocolate on V-Day.
去年の全米小売業協会のデータによると、54%のアメリカ人がバレンタインを祝い、そのうちの20%がジュエリーを買ったそうです。売れたバレンタインカードの数はなんと約2億。花屋さんで準備されたバラの花束の数は約2.5億。
According to data released by the National Retail Foundation, last year, around 54% of Americans celebrated V-Day, of which 20% spent money on jewelry. Over 200 million cards were sold and 250 million roses were produced.
さらに、最近人気なのが「gift of experience」という、体験型のプレゼント。
Furthermore, in recent years, "gifts of experience" have become quite popular.
コンサートチケットをプレゼントしたり、一緒にディズニーランドに行ったり、ロマンチックな映画を観に行ったり。
Examples would be gifting your significant other concert tickets, going to Disneyland together, or watching a romantic movie at a theatre.
すぐになくなっちゃうチョコよりも思い出に残るプレゼントのほうが良いかもですね！
Instead of chocolates, which ultimately disappear in the depths of your stomach and are thus quickly forgotten, gifts of experience become wonderful memories to look back on years later, perhaps making the latter better gifts.
以上、アメリカと日本の違い、バレンタイン版でした。
So, the above three points are the major differences between V-Day in Japan versus U.S.
皆さんはどう過ごしますか？！
How are you going to spend Valentine's Day?!
私は20代最後の貴重なバレンタインデーを、大好きなアベプラで過ごします
On the last V-Day of my 20s, I will be going to work and going on AbemaPrime tonight (yay!...but also sob)
Have a splendid Valentine's Day! Much love to you all - mwah! 