Hello everyone, and a Merry Christmas to you all!�� If you are living in Japan, Christmas is certainly an odd occasion.�� The Japanese seem to have chosen the things they like about Christmas ��� the shopping and the Christmas lights ��� and have added their own twists ��� fried chicken and Christmas cake.�� In fact, most people ��� myself included ��� have to work on Christmas Day, which, as an American, is an absurd idea.�� But the upcoming weekend is a high time for dating, so make sure you find that girl you like and take her out!

This week���s article assumes that you are already going on dates with a girl.�� You probably think things are going great, but all of a sudden she might start acting odd without telling you why.�� Or worse, she might just end the relationship without you ever knowing something was wrong.�� This has happened to me more times than I would like to admit early into my dating career.

In Western culture, we are used to airing out our problems in the open.�� If something is wrong in a relationship, we talk about it, often very loudly.�� However Japanese women are often quite different.�� Japanese women tend not to voice their problem directly.�� Instead you are expected to read the cues and infer what the problem is.�� This is probably one of the most frustrating things about dating a Japanese woman.

My advice for dating a Japanese woman is to try and be aware of these cues.�� Don���t expect her to tell you when she is upset on her own volition.�� You have to read the signs and bring it up to her.�� Be nice about it, talk it over and hopefully you can smooth things out.�� Or if you find out she���s into whips, chains and leather, get to running���or shout ���Hooray���.