Christmas Eve and Christmas day are usually days for lovers in Japan. I found that the most of my colleagues had already left at six o’clock. Some of them left early to spend a wonderful time with their love and others did because of their MIE.
What should I describe this word “MIE”? Here is some answers from an internet dictionary.
見栄(みえ) show; (a) display; 〈虚栄〉 vanity
見栄で(みえで) for show; for appearance' sake
So, this is my translation of a sentence above.
Others left early to pretend that they would meet their love.
How’s that? That is the perfect translation, isn’t it? Mind you, I didn’t leave early to pretend to see my boyfriend. I HAPPENED to finish my work earlier and I didn’t planned!!!
I suppose that one of my colleagues was talking about his girl friend, and he was glad he didn’t see her today. Here are the good reasons not to see her, apparently my colleague.
1. He didn’t have to reserve a good restaurant and to spend a fortune for a gorgeous dinner. 2. He didn’t have to buy an expensive gift. 3. He could stay at home and probably play video game “Dragon quest” as long as possible.
But he didn’t seem happy at all and he said “Merry Christmas!” a little bit angrily to me when I left my office. I encountered a HUGE difficulty of understanding men’s feelings!