Love

Love and Peace!!!

Some funny slogan that I watched in some Japanese drama, probably Pride.

I love the twisted V that the guy made when he was really furious yet trying to maintain his composure, the way he gritted his teeth as though he was grinding pepper in his mouth.

The V sign stands for Peace in Japan, whereas I used to think that it meant V for Victory. That was eons ago, before I came to the land of the rising sun.

The difference in cultures can be so amazing.

Other than the above-mentioned V sign, one of the most striking differences is that if you are not Japanese and you are in Japan talking to a Japanese for the first time, more likely than not, he/she will probably gush about how fluent your Japanese is. "日本語お上手ですね"

Or else, you might be mistaken for a Japanese because you do not really have a foreign accent when you speak Japanese; it is only when you tell the person your name (which is so obviously not Japanese) that he/she looks taken aback and marvels, "日本人かと思った"

Which situation would you prefer to be in, the former or the latter? I would take the latter, because to me, it shows that my Japanese is comparable to what the Japanese speak, whereas in the former scenario, the person might have been trying to be polite.

Another difference is with respect to Love, or rather, Valentine's Day.
I will not talk about the tomo-choko, or friendship chocolates here.
友チョコについては省略させていただきます。( 『～については省略させていただきます。』 The people in my lab love to use this phrase when we are presenting our progress reports, and I am one of them. haha)

In Japan, there is Valentine's Day (February 14th) and there is White Day (on March 14th). What is the difference? The former is for the members of the fairer sex to show their affections for the guys of their dreams by offering them gifts, (handmade) chocolates, etc. On the other hand, the latter is a day where the lucky guys reciprocate. In a way, it sort of favors us guys, because if we get anything from the girls, we sort of know how she feels towards us. Of course, for the poor guys who didn't get anything on Valentine's Day, it can be quite demoralizing. Well, life goes on.

In Singapore, we have Valentine's Day on the 14th of February, where both sexes would send gifts, chocolates, messages, etc. to their crushes/significant others. This is supposed to reflect the equality of the sexes. You may think that I am a MCP, short for Male Chauvinistic Pig, but I prefer to think that while we may be able to achieve equality in terms of education, work opportunities, social standing, etc, there are things which will never be equal. Most girls would still prefer guys to open doors for them, to help them carry heavy stuff, to do the so-called little things that may not seem to matter. And though there are more girls who would take the initiative to ask guys out as compared to during my time (man, i sound like a speaking relic :p), somehow I feel that many girls would rather let the guys they fancy take the initiative to ask them out.

I should know; so far I have done most of the asking, to the extent that some people think I must be a crocodile in my past life because they seem to think that I have very thick skin. :P