Valentine's Day

Renee and I went out to eat at our favorite restaurant, 'Apollo' on February 14th.

They had special table cloths and flowers on the table.  It's still pretty cold out, so we took a booth away from the door.  The window we sat by was a bit drafty, but that was not strange.

The funny thing was how the Mongolian people celebrating the holiday brought their kids, other adults, and friends along to celebrate this traditionally 'romantic' holiday.

The music was pretty loud, and the lights were up.  The place is usually pretty quiet and empty, but on this festive evening, it was a little hard to hit the mood we were expecting.  Nevertheless, the food was good as usual, and our conversation was enjoyable, if not 'romantic'.

It just struck us as a difference worthy of writing home about.  This small prairie nation wants to play a part on the world stage to this day.  They are not to be left behind, or held up by details of how the rest of the world does things.

Ironically, Women's Day and Soldier's Day are here next month.  So maybe they will play a more romantic part than Valentine's Day.