St. Valentine post

It's been ten days since I've had a chance to actually sit down and collect my thoughts and maybe write a word or two.
It's Valentines day and here in Japanland things are done just a little differently than in America and I must say that I like it. First of all it's the women who treat men to chocolates and gifts, WOW. But because my wife is savvy to the American way of life I don't get away without the flowers and gifts. To tell the truth I don't only like to do those things on V-day, I do them throughout the year. I do it for me. It makes me feel good when I can treat her like a princess. Getting back to Japan: a man's popularity is judged by how many chocolates he recieves. Guys often make light of it, but they are like notches on our belts. There is a peculiar type of gift as well called GIRI-CHOCO. This is chocolate given out of a sense of obligation rather than true affection or friendship. As the boss I can always count on at least a dozen Giri type chocolates. When I get these I have to remember who gave them to me and return the gift on White day, one month later. It always amuses my wife when we get home after work and I hand over the sweets to her; she likes chocolates a whole lot more than I do. Eventually the question arises "How many of these were GIRI?" And I give her my usual answer "None, I'm the most popular guy around, didn't you know that?" I know it's corny, but married couples do stupid things that amuse themselves, but leave others in bewilderment. At the end of the evening I ask if she bought any chocolates for me and she tells me she did, but couldn't wait for me so she ate them herself. She did at least provide me with a great bottle of whiskey.
White day is gonna cost me a fortune this year.