こんにちは！EcomのJennです。It’s me again. How is everyone?
皆さんすでに知っているかもしれませんが、明日6月15日は特別な日です。そう、Father’s Day（父の日）ですよ！というわけで、今日はカナダの父の日の祝い方を紹介したいと思います。
その1：過ごし方
こちらでは6月は、気温が暖かく基本的に天気が良いです。そのため父の日には、外でお父さんとアクティビティをする子供が多いです。スポーツやハイキング、お散歩をしたりします。
お父さんが体を動かすよりもしっかり休みたい場合は、家で映画を見たりゲームをしたりする家族もいます。とにかく、お父さんと一緒に時間を過ごすことがポイントです。
その2：プレゼント
父の日は父親と一緒に過ごすだけでなく、プレゼントも用意します。父の日のプレゼントも色々あります。昔から人気があるのはネクタイ、財布、文房具などです。もう少し大きな子供はお酒をよくプレゼントするので、父の日の前は酒屋が混んでいます。また、パワーツールや電化製品も人気のギフトで、この時期はホームセンターと電気屋がよく「父の日セール」を行います。
その3：食事
食事は2つのパターンがあります。1つ目は、レストランで食べるパターンです。父の日にはどこのレストランも混んでいます。もし家族揃って外食する予定でしたら、予約を取ることをオススメします。そうしないと、長く待たされてしまいます。ちなみに、テラス席のある店が人気です。天気が良いからですね。
2つ目のパターンは、カナダ人の大好きなバーベキューです。ステーキ、ソーセージ、チキン…とりあえず肉がメインの食事です。カナダの家は基本的に庭が広いので、家でバーベキューをして、外に置いたテーブルで食べることが多いです。
日本の皆さんは、父の日をどうやって祝いますか？カナダと似ている点はありますか？よろしければ、コメントで教えてくださいね\(^o^)/
それでは、また次回！See you again next time! Bye for now!
Hello Jenn, How are you?
I guess we don’t cerebrate father’s day here. Maybe, we will receive some gifts from our kids. We’ve already bought something on Mother’s day, so we are oblivious to Father’s day. It’s good to spend some time with kids outside, but we usually don’t have a big garden to have a barbecue party outside.
Usually, fathers bring home the beacon. Therefore, family member should respect their father. But, these days, a lot of mothers work outside the home, so mothers are also breadwinners. Then, when both parents are working, who should take care of their kids? In Japan, there aren’t sufficient numbers of daycare centers, and usually, mothers have to sacrifice themselves to nurture the kids. In the US, I guess parents send their children to a daycare center and the kids may feel isolated when they are left at the center while their parents are working. I imagine, as a consequence, children don’t hesitate to leave their parents at nursing homes when they get older. I serious feel that Mother’s day and Father’s day should be commemorative days when children should pay respect to their parents. I guess many parents want to live with their children when they grow older. And, grandparents are happy to take care of their grandchildren. I think, on Father’s day, we have to talk about our future with our kids what our children can do for their parents when they get old.
Hello Seiichi,
Thank you so much for your comment! I do remember thinking that Father’s Day did not seem as major as Mother’s Day in Japan. I was actually surprised when I came back here and found that so many stores were having Father’s Day sales on things like barbecues, cookware and tools, and that many people at my job asked how I was going to spend the day with my father.
Outdoor activities and barbecues are a lot of fun. It’s too bad that many homes in Japan don’t have big yards to do this in, but maybe it’s a good chance to go to a park and have a picnic or do something else outside.
You also bring up a very good point about a major difference between Japanese and American culture. I know that here, most kids can’t wait to move out and live on their own. I moved out as a teenager and most kids will probably move out at about 18-19 when they go to university and very rarely do they go back to living at home. Actually, often those who do find it very difficult living with their parents and move out again shortly afterwards. This might very well be rooted in the way that we’re raised as children here. I do agree that Father’s Day could be a very good opportunity to talk about the future and how children and parents can help
each other.
Hello Jenn, Thank you very much for your reply. These days, there are a lot of part time young workers who cannot have their own family. Therefore, those young people have to live with their parents and they are taken care of by their parents. They are sometimes dubbed “parasites”, but under extenuating circumstances of Japan’s lackluster economy, those part time workers have to live with their parents and save money for the future.
It may be a bit difficult when a newlywed couple live with their parents in a same house. However, when they have kids, their children can be taken care of by their parents. It is safer and cheap for a young couple to ask their parents to look after the kids. While the grandchildren are living with the grandparents, the kids surely learn valuable things from their grandparent. For example, they learn how to share food with the family member and they get to know each other better. If they see eye to eye with each other in everything, they may not commemorate Mother’s day or Father’s day.
Thank you again for your response.
You do make a very good point about the benefits of young families living
with their parents. I know that one of the biggest complaints I hear from
young parents here is about the cost of daycare. If there was someone at
home to look after the children, that would probably be quite beneficial
financially and certainly could be much safer than leaving them with a
stranger. In particular, I imagine it would work best if the grandparents
are already retired and able to be at home to look after the children. You
are also correct in saying that children could potentially learn a lot for
their grandparents and this would provide a great opportunity for them to
do so.