Saturday 11 February 2017

Love Related Cards

February 11, 2017

Warning: Lots of long expository paragraphs here today.  Feel free to skip and just look at the pretty cards if you are in a hurry!

Apologies for the lengthy gap in posting.  I took a week off to celebrate my birthday and travel to another city which is generally a little warmer and has a lot less snow than my city does.  It was a bit of a winter break, except it was cold and snowy there too for a change!

Today's Blog Linky Party's Theme is Love. I am not always the biggest fan of "Love" because sometimes my definition of love doesn't agree with other people's definition of love.  However, Valentine's Day is just around the corner so it is seasonally appropriate!

As an aside, I thought I might mention the difference between Valentine's Day in Japan and most other countries.  In Japan, women give chocolates to the men in their lives.  They give "Giri-choco" or obligation chocolates to male co-workers, male friends or anyone close to them with whom they do not have a romantic relationship.  Women give "Honmei-choco" to their boyfriends or husbands. The Honmei-choco is often handmade or very gorgeous.

There is quite a lot of information about this tradition on the internet, I am referring my readers to a blog that I follow if interested.

Men are obliged to respond in March on White Day (March 14th) when they give something back to the women that showered them with chocolates.  Unfortunately, they usually don't give back chocolate, they give cookies.  Cookies are nice, but they aren't chocolate!

Here in my family in Japan we do things just a little bit differently!  My husband and I exchange presents on Valentine's Day and on White Day.  Sometimes we give chocolates, sometimes more creative presents.  One of my favourite gifts was a fishing rod so that I could join my husband in one of his favourite hobbies! I think we have the best of both traditions this way ๐Ÿ˜

But, you came here for the postcards not a Social Studies lesson.  Here we go...

I received this card from France in 2015.  I like the happy fun vibe of the card, but as I originally noted in my blog entry, I'm a tad worried about the "Punch" like puppet that the man is holding.  What does that mean?
Rob Cochrane
Gay Couple 1986
My next two cards are both from movies.  The first one, which I received in 2014 is from a movie that I haven't heard of and have no information about either.  IMDb lists it as being from 1947, but there is no plot summary at all.  However, it looks very fiery and romantic! The card was sent from Australia in 2014.

Romeo and Juliet is one of those movies that probably soured me on romance.  They were such pretty people, fell in love with each other and died.  (I hope I didn't need a spoiler alert there!) During my Shakespeare class in University, we watched the movie.  The man sitting next to me was a Star Trek fan and at a point in the movie when Romeo's page says to him, "Live and Prosper," the man made Spock's Vulcan salute.  I wish I could say that I smiled politely.  I wish I could.  

Unfortunately I started howling with laughter to the point of tears running down my face and even leaving the room didn't help much.  This was just before the two lovers met their fate so at my college I am known forever as the girl who laughed at Romeo and Juliet. 
This card arrived in 2016 from Germany.  I actually like the card and the film, despite my story.  Olivia Hussey is quite popular in Japan as she had a Japanese husband at one time. 


 I do like this card below and how it shows the couple wrapped up in each other.  It was sent to me from Russia in 2014.
Valentine - Vladimir Kamaev
Thank you so much for visiting my postcard blog.  I love that you visited me, and I would LOVE it even more if you left a friendly comment. Please share the LOVE with the other members of the Blog Linky Party too and see what kind of cards they posted.

Until next time....


8 comments:

Heleen said...

Thanknyou for sharing your cards and moreover, for sharing your words :-) Not a too long text at all!
Your cinema experience caused a big smile here. And it always is interesting to know other country's habits (in my son's soccer team there are Japanese boys playing, too, and via their moms I learned about cherry blossom festival and boy's day and girl's day, but Valentine's Day and White Day and the chocolate were new to me! Funny, chocolate for men and cookies for women - from the people around me, including me, most men prefer cookies and women chocolate :-)

I am not so fond of the theme 'love' either, and thus don't have many cards on this, but this time I was saved by a ransom card chosen by a friend to send to me accidentally :-)

Helen said...

Thank you Heleen! I'm glad that you enjoyed my words. My more personal blog tends to get very wordy, so I try to keep this one a little shorter.

I think the thing about the chocolate exchange is that the men end up giving the giri-choco that they recieve to their wives, girlfriends or family! My husband doesn't get a lot but he'll often pass on some to me!

I'll check out your blog entry soon!

Maria said...

I love all of what you shared this weekend, Helen! It's always a plus learning through our topics and the postcards. Speaking of, the illustrated card with the couple wrapped in each other's embrace is also my favorite from this set. Belated happy birthday and thanks for linking up! I hope you get warmer weather soon in Japan.

Helen said...

Thank you Maria! I'm always glad to hear from you. I am glad you liked the cards.

In the north of Japan, we're likely to have snow and cold for another month or two at least! It is warmer than Canada...at least that is what I keep telling myself!

Joy said...

Maybe Mr Punch is saying, that's the way to do it. You are right it is a little strange. I'm torn between whether I like chocolate or cookies better, my ideal something between the two. I love how the Japanese have added all the ceremonial elements to the event.
As a film fan my curiosity was roused by the film, its on the Rotten Tomatoes site as a "romantically tinged musical western" with basically two love rivals mixed with violence and tragedy. Nothing like a good song with tragedy!

Helen said...

Thank you for visiting Joy! You are correct, there's nothing like a good song with tragedy! The funny thing about the movie is just how little information there is about it in English. I am assuming that it isn't an English Language film, but even so, I would have thought there would be some information out there about it.

I love cookies and I love chocolate...I especially like chocolate cookies, but I have a probem sticking to just one or two, so I avoid both when I can!

That Punch! Don't like that character much, which makes me wonder what is he doing in the picture.

Have a great week!

Mail Adventures said...

I have never celebrated St. Valentine, but I like the postcards, and also see all the traditions around this day. Of course I wouldn't refuse chocolate... or even cookies!

Helen said...

Thanks for visiting Eva!

I wouldn't turn down chocolate or cookies either! Isn't it interesting to find out about different traditions? I enjoy it a lot.