Saturday, March 18, 2006

Knitting is not just for old ladies!

When I first arrived and Andy was working the long hours of actual dive time over Christmas, I had to find something to occupy my time while I waited for work to drift my way. I first spent my time running and then looked to the list of classes offered at the community center. Tea box covering...ballet...Japanese...bonzai...knitting... I clearly picked knitting.

When I mentioned going to the class in front of one of the divers, he promptly asked, "What are you...85 years old?!" And then, when I took my knitting into the Starbucks on base, the gang of teacher's husbands that hang out there in the mornings made comments that they felt they were hanging out at a nursing home when I pulled my project out of my bag. I just smiled and started on a new row.

My first two projects after the intitial scarf project were the dish rags you see in these two photos. My current project is a bit bigger and I will definitely be sure to show it off when it is done. In fact I might need opinions about finishing touches. Get your opinions ready!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

White Day vs Valentine's Day

I got home this afternoon after a day of substitute teaching with bags of groceries holding all the goodies sure to make a fabulous dinner. Andy had been craving hamburgers and, with him suffering from a nasty strained muscle, it seemed like hamburgers would be a perfect dinner. When I pulled into our parking spot Andy was there to greet me and help me lug the grocery bags into the apartment. When we stepped into the house I was delighted to see that Andy had cleaned and bought flowers for the table. Today is White Day.

St. Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14, and White Day one month later on March 14. It is said that St. Valentine's Day was imported to Japan in 1958 by a Japanese confectionery company. In Japan, it is only the women giving presents - mainly chocolate - to men, but not the other way around. Men are supposed to return the favors received on Valentine's Day one month later on White Day, a Japanese creation. White Day is believed to have been introduced by a marshmallow manufacturing company in the 1960s. The white marshmallows gave the day its name but other kinds of presents such as candy, flowers, etc. have become more popular over the years.

The real stinker about this tradition is that women are very good about giving valentine chocolates to all the men in their lives...a boss, a friend, a teacher, a co-worker, significant other, etc. and in return women generally get just the one gift from their significant other. Of course, the men generally spend a lot more on that one gift...