However, the entire staff celebrated Men's Day yesterday at work. All the women greeted the men as they entered the building in the morning and gave them a little ribbon with a positive message. Mine said, "You're awesome!" Then the woman organized a special buffet lunch for us in the foyer at noontime where they recognized men for their contributions. Finally, each man was given a gift. A tool kit! Hurray. (Some of you might not realize that I'm not a tool kit kind of guy.) It just goes to show that tools could possibly be an area of cultural similarity that transcends national boundaries.
Then yesterday evening, I grabbed a quick meal at a Chinese restaurant. Because I was a man and everybody was celebrating men, they gave me a free appetizer (duck braised in cumin) and a free serving of cognac to finish my meal.
Why is Men's Day celebrated? The holiday used to be called Defense of the Fatherland Day and the major activity of the old celebration was inviting elderly war veterans who had fought in the Soviet Army during World War II to come tell their stories of heroism at your workplace or school. As there aren't many Fatherland defenders left, it just didn't really feel like much of a holiday anymore. And, add to it the fact that Kyrgyzstan celebrates International Women's Day as a national holiday on March 8, it just seemed to make sense to the Kyrgyz to have a male counterpart holiday to next month's women's celebration. So, next month, it will be our turn to make a party, provide a meal, and give gifts to the women and celebrate their contributions to Kyrgyzstan. As far as February holidays go, Men's Day kind of beats Presidents' Day, wouldn't you say? Think about it: has anyone ever given you the gift of a tool kit in honor of Woodrow Wilson or Martin Van Buren?
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