English Essay by Brian Southwick


37 Valentine's Day ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)　

　　February 14 is Valentine’s Day.  On this day we give a small present to our friends and those we love.  Valentine’s Day customs are different in Japan and the United States, and in today’s essay I will tell you about them.
　　　In America, candy, greeting cards, and flowers are popular Valentine’s Day gifts. Supermarkets and gift shops sell many greeting cards for Valentine’s, and elementary school children sometimes make original cards and exchange them with their classmates.  I still remember exchanging cards in Ms. English’s first-grade class at Westdale Elementary School.  Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for flower shops, which sell more roses than any other flower.  Often it is the man who buys the roses and has them delivered to his wife or girlfriend.  Couples sometimes have dinner at an elegant restaurant, and the man usually pays for the meal.
　　　Japanese Valentine’s Day customs are very different from those in America.　In Japan chocolate is the most popular gift, and it is the woman, not the man, who buys the present.  There are three kinds of chocolate given as a present.  One kind is called giri choko, and it is the chocolate given to those who work in the same office we do.  Another kind is called tomo choko, and it is given to close friends.  The third kind is called honmei choko.  This kind is the most expensive and is given to a boyfriend or husband.
　　White Day in Japan is March 14, and it is related to Valentine’s Day.  Men give a present, traditionally white chocolate or marshmallows, to those who gave them chocolate a month earlier.  There is no White Day in the U.S., but in Korea there is a Black Day, April 14.  On this day, the men who did not receive a Valentine’s present wear black clothes and meet each other to eat noodles in a black sauce. They drink coffee, too.  It sounds a little sad, and I hope the men receive a Valentine’s present next year, but I would like to try “black ramen”. 


<注>　Valentine’s Day（バレンタインデー），those（人々，それら），custom（慣習），essay（エッセイ），
candy（あめ），greeting card（あいさつ状），gift（贈り物），supermarket（スーパーマーケット），
classmate（同級生，級友），which（関係代名詞，非制限用法，theyに置き換えるとよい），
has〜delivered（〜を配達させる),couple(恋人同士),pay for〜(〜の代金を支払う),chocolate(チョコレート),
White Day（ホワイトデー），is related to〜（〜と関係がある），traditionally（伝統的に），
marshmallow（マシュマロ），Korea（韓国），Black Day（ブラックデー），receive（受け取る），
clothes（服），noodle（麺類），sauce（ソース），coffee（コーヒー）



Question and Answers:  Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.

Q1. When is Valentine’s Day?

A1.


Q2. Are Japanese and American Valentine’s Day customs the same?

A2.


Q3. What do elementary school children in the U.S. sometimes do for Valentine’s?  

A3.


Q4. Who receives tomo choko?

A4.


Q5. Where do men wear black and eat “black ramen”?

A5.


＜解答例＞

A1. It is February 14.

A2. No, they aren’t.

A3. They (sometimes) make original cards and exchange them with their classmates.

A4. Close friends do.

A5. They wear black and eat “black ramen” in Korea.