Your valentine’s day traditions may include giving your special someone roses and chocolates, having a romantic dinner, or cuddling while watching a movie. However, there are many different ways that this special holiday can be celebrated around the world. Some of them might be surprising, compared to our American traditions.
Around the world, February is known as the month of romance, starting with Saint Valentine.
The story of St.Valentine is shrouded in mystery. At least 3 saints are recognized by the Catholic church, with the names of Valentine or Valentinus. According to one Roman legend, Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Emperor Claudius outlaw marriage amongst soldiers, claiming that it made them better than soldiers with families.
Valentine continued to perform marriages amongst soldiers in secret, resulting in Claudius’s order of his death. However, other story’s suggest that he was put to death for attempting to help Christians escape from Roman prisons.
Legends also suggest that Valentine was also the first to send a Valentine’s day greeting. The story is told that valentine was imprisoned, and fell in love with his jailer’s daughter. Before his execution, he supposedly wrote a letter to her that read, “From your Valentine.”
Regardless of how it came to be, Valentine’s day is just as popular as ever all around the world. Over 100 counties celebrate it.
In the united kingdom, valentines day was first celebrated in the victorian era. It was believed that signing a name on a valentines day card was bad luck. The UK also started the traditions of sending flowers on valentines day, in honor of Venus, the goddess of love.
However, Wales has a very different and unique tradition from the rest of the world. Wales men typically gift their wives hand-carved spoons. Wales sailors would carve designs into wooden spoons while at sea to bring to their lovers back home.
In Japan, it’s the ladies that make the first move! They give the men gifts, instead of the latter. The most popular gift is homemade honmei-choco chocolate. The men usually return the declaration on March 14th, known as White Day. The men give their lovers white chocolate in a return for their affection.
South Korean traditions are similar to Japanese traditions, except they also celebrate Black Day on April 14th. Black day traditions consist of single friends gathering and eating noodles to celebrate being single! The noodle dish is white noodles in black soup.
In America however, younger generations have been putting a new, American twist on South Korean traditions: A Galentine’s Day. Galentine’s Day is when a group of single friends gathers and celebrates being single with candy, sweets, and chocolate.
Even though around the world, Valentine’s day may not be celebrated the same way, all the traditions have the same meaning behind them: To show the person you care about how much you appreciate them.
