As they say, “Love knows no boundaries.” There is no specific time to show gratitude to people you love. Nevertheless, a much awaited time of the year is Valentine’s Day --- a time when people express their affection towards someone by giving presents and showering them with different treats.
In the Philippines, many men and women prepare something special for their significant other. But did you know that in Japan, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in a unique way? This is because it is the women who give gifts to men. So much for gender equality, eh? What’s even more special what they call “White Day.”
White Day is celebrated on March 14, exactly a month after Valentine’s Day. On this day, men are obliged to return the favor to the women who gave them chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Sounds fun?
Well, of course, Linguage didn’t want to miss the fun. The company organized exciting activities headed by one of Linguage’s active and beautiful trainers, Ms. Sheska. For the first time in Linguage, we celebrated such an event which brought excitement and glee, not only to the Japanese administrators, but also to the Filipino teachers.
The event kicked off with the Selfie Competition. Teachers brought on their best smiles and poses to achieve victory. They vied for the following titles: Best Selfie, Most Photogenic and Most Shared Post.
Now, earlier in the week, a jar had been displayed for people to put in letters and short notes to those they cared about and to those they were grateful to. And on the very day, these notes were handed out. There were also chocolates, candies and other sweets. All these gave the teachers a smile on their faces and warmth in their hearts.
Also, to make the day more entertaining, people wore different color shirts to show their relationship status… red for those in a relationship; violet if in a long distance relationship; blue if single and happy; grey for those moving on from a broken relationship; and lastly, green for those still waiting for the right person. And for those who don’t really care about love, black.
Some were disappointed to see their crush wearing red while others were thrilled to see people wearing green. Still, some played safe and chose not to wear any of the colors above. But whatever people wore, everyone was entertained by the others’ choices.
Finally,the day ended with a very short program. Teachers played games and share their talents in singing. The awarding for the winners were also conducted. The very cute Ms. Zace was awarded as the Most Photogenic; the Best Selfie went to Mr. Franz and the Most Shared Post was given to Ms. Mae.
The day ended with a zing, a bang and a boom! Everyone went home with a smile on their faces and memories etched in their hearts… proof that no matter how different Japan and the Philippines are, we enjoy our unique cultural differences.