Women’s Day

Did you know that today is the International Women’s Day? Yeah, me neither. I only know because a friend of mine told me this morning – when he presented me with flowers to celebrate the day.

So, guys, why don’t you buy something nice for the women in your life, like chocolates or flowers… (And while you’re at it, don’t forget your office wife aka secretary! They are greatly undervalued anyway.) Or even better: why not doing the dishes, tidy the livingroom or bring the kids to bed tonight? From my own experience I can tell you that women love men who do their bit in the household.

In any case, the whole flower thing reminded me of what one of my female friends told me: Flowers are not a good gift in Japan. Not just chrysanthemums, which are graveyard flowers even in Austria, but any type of flowers. I was quite surprised by this, and unfortunately she could not really explain why. The only reason I could come up with is that flowers – cut ones especially – will all die within a few days, so maybe this is the connotation the Japanese don’t like? However, other female Japanese friends seem to have no problems with flowers, but they have been living abroad for a long time, so this may be a Western view they have picked up.

My problems with the flowers today were more practical. The last time I received any was in the year I got my PhD, a decade ago. My grandmother had an enormous amount of vases, but except for a handful I gave them all away. And none of the vases I still have would have been fitting for the single tulip my friend gave me today. Oh well, I wasn’t a scientist for nothing; you can see my solution in the picture.