Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope y'all were showered with the gifts I'm sure you all richly deserve today. We had a special Valentine's event in the canteen this lunchtime - everyone got a bar of chocolate, AND! a slice of cold garlic bread. Oh, they treat us well. I found another bar hanging from my door-handle after lunch from Mary, and Christa claims she left a rose on my doorstop (since I told her I'd never received flowers from anybody...) but no evidence of this has been found. I'm afraid they may have ulterior motives though, for in Korea, while on Valentines day it is the girls that give to the boys, the girls get paid back a month later. March 14th, or White Day, is when men traditionally give gifts to the ladies (I say it's traditional, but it actually dates back to circa 1965). This is a good deal for the men, because as well as getting a reminder a month in advance, they can gauge from the value of the gift that they received how much to spend in return! Anyhow, this is not all. In a triumph of marketing, Korea has a third holiday on April 14th. This one is truly depressing. It's called Black Day, and it's an opportunity for all those lonely souls who haven't yet received anything on Valentine's Day or White Day to meet up and eat noodles with black bean sauce together. I'm so happy I got the chocolate.