February 14th, otherwise known as Valentine’s Day, has come and gone. Here at imagine* we were lucky to receive some lovely goodies, talked with students about their plans, and got some tips on how to make homemade chocolates.

One topic that came up several times was the differences between Valentine’s Day in Japan and North America, with the biggest difference being White Day.

Both Chris and I are from North America, and we are used to Valentine’s Day being a day where couples exchange presents, and try to do something romantic together. In some cases, parents include their children and make it a family event. My parents always exchanged gifts on the 14th, but they also bought something for my sister and I too. As well, there are couples that feel that Valentine’s Day is just a commercial holiday, and do nothing at all.

Many students explained that in Japan, things are done differently, with Valentine’s Day traditionally being a day for men, and White Day a day for women. I asked a few students about the origins of White Day, but no one could answer so I did a little Internet research and this is what I learned…

In 1977 a sweets company located in Fukuoka decided to market marshmallows for men to buy for their loved ones; they called the day “Marshmallow Day”. One year later, March 14th was officially called “White Day” and the idea was (and still is) that it would be a day when men could pay back the women who gave them gifts on Valentine’s Day. At first, companies focused on selling white chocolate and marshmallows to match the name, but now various kinds of sweets are sold. Interestingly, White Day is also celebrated in South Korea, Taiwan and China.

I have lived in Japan for over 14 years but I never took the time to find out the meaning behind White Day; my curiosity has been satisfied, and I hope that yours has been too.

Since I was a child, I’ve always loved Halloween. I love the costumes. I love the spooky decorations. I love the parties. And of course I love the candy! In fact, it is probably safe to say, that one of the first things that attracted me to my husband is his love for Halloween.

Recently Halloween is becoming more and more popular in Japan. In the weeks leading up to October 31st, it is common to see children dressed up in costumes for a Halloween party and shops decorated with Jack-o-lanterns. Unfortunately, there is one custom hasn’t made its way to Japan, and that’s Trick-or-Treating.

Just after dark on October 31st, my sister and I would put on the costumes that my mom had made or bought for us and go out Trick-or Treating. With our special bags (usually the biggest ones that we could find) in hand, we would walk around our neighbourhood collecting candy. I was always a bit shy at the first few houses and usually let my sister ring the doorbell. When the person answered, we would hold out our candy bags and shout, “TRICK-OR-TREAT!” and they would drop some candy or chocolate into our bags. My mom would wait for us at the end of the person’s driveway (usually chatting with other parents) and we would run back and show her what we got. Then we were off to the next house.

Some people would put up elaborate decorations around their yard, and it was like walking into a haunted house. It could be a little scary, but as we knew there was candy waiting for us, so we were always brave enough to run up and ring the doorbell. As we got older, my mother stopped coming with us, and my sister and I would go out with our friends. Eventually we got too old and had to give up Trick-or-Treating, but that hasn’t stopped me from wearing a costume every year.

I have such wonderful memories of Trick-or-Treating with my sister, and I hope that the custom catches on in Japan so that I can take my son out someday. Until then, we will have to be satisfied with dressing up at home and going to Halloween parties.

A new year will soon be upon us. For many people that means it’s time to think about the future. Some of us will make resolutions to study harder, eat less, exercise more or take-up a new hobby. It was around this time in 2011 that Itsuko, an imagine* student for almost three years, started thinking about her future.

In April 2012 Itsuko would be entering the fourth year of her undergraduate program at Doshisha University, and it was time to think seriously about what she would do after graduating. Would she get a job? Would she enter a master’s degree program? Would she take time off to travel and enjoy life?

None, of the above. Itsuko decided that she wanted to go to graduate school overseas and began taking measures in order to achieve her goal. In April 2012 she took the TOEFL test for the first time and got a score of 72. She realized that if she wanted to be a full time student in another country she would have get a higher score than that as most universities require at least a score of 80.

On December 19th Itsuko got the results of her most recent TOEFL test and found that she had increased her score by an amazing 20 points in just eight months!

In a brief interview Itsuko talks about her hopes for the future and gives advice for other students taking the TOEFL test.

Why did you decide to study overseas?

The first reason is that I like English and I want to communicate with many people. But I also want to use English in my future job.

Do you want to work in a foreign country?

No. In the future I want to stay in Japan and work for a Japanese company. But I want to use English and I would really like to help the company I work for expand internationally.

When you first took the TOEFL test, what score were you hoping to get?

I wanted to get 80, but I got 72. So I knew I had to study hard to get a higher score.

Do you have advice for people studying TOEFL?

The speaking and writing sections on the TEOFL IBT (Internet based test) is special. So I focused a lot on these parts in my English lessons. As well, the TOEFL test has a lot of academic vocabulary, it’s important to learn a lot of new words. Finally, the listening section so you need to practice a lot. I recommend doing a lot of practice tests in ‘real time’ so that you can get used to the timing and speed of the test.

Thanks for the great advice Itsuko! And congratulations on your amazing achievement.

In April 2013 Itsuko will attend the University of California, San Diego and take three month business English course. After that she is planning to attend University of California, Berkeley.

I love coffee. Not only do I love the way it smells and tastes, but I love coffee shop culture. Spending an afternoon curled up in a cosy cafe with a good book, and a perfectly made cappuccino is my idea of heaven. And I am not alone.

In 2011 people consumed 7,358,897 metric tons of coffee. To help put this into perspective, 1 metric ton equals 1000 kilograms (a small car weighs about 1000 kilograms). That’s A LOT of coffee! Canadians are one of the top consumers of coffee in the world. Perhaps that explains why I love it so much.

In April of this year, a student (Maki) joined imagine* who was getting ready to move to New York for three years. In one of our first lessons she told me that she was a coffee lover (a woman after my own heart!), and that her dream was to order a soy latte from Starbucks in English. I’ve had the experience of ordering a coffee in another language and not getting what I wanted, so I could understand why it was important for her to get the order right.

A perfect example of how confusing ordering a coffee can be is ‘black coffee’. In some places when you order a black coffee, it means coffee with no sugar or milk. On the other hand, in some places a black coffee has sugar in it! To be safe you should always ask for “a black coffee with no sugar”. As you can see ordering a coffee in a foreign country can be a daunting task, and when you start getting into specialty coffees that’s when things can get really confusing!

After just a month of taking two English lessons almost every day Maki was on her way to New York. She had practiced everything from asking for directions to talking about her hometown, and most importantly ordering a soy latte! One of the things that differ from ordering at Starbucks in Japan is having to give your name when you order. The staff write your name on your cup so that they don’t give your order to another customer by accident. So we made sure to practice that while ordering.

In the first few days of her new life in New York Maki had successfully answered all of the questions at immigration, visited the famous Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Yankee Stadium, and was even asked for directions by a New Yorker! During all of her adventures she made her first visit to Starbucks and in her words “I ordered the soy latte at STARBUCKS.”

So from one coffee fanatic to another, well done Maki! I knew that you could do it.