The story behind the birth of Valentine’s Day is a little fuzzy. There are many different stories out there about why we celebrate this day in St. Valentine’s honor, although they all have a similar theme of love and relationships. In some places, the birth of the holiday doesn’t include St. Valentine at all! Why people celebrate and express their love on this holiday, however, varies wildly from place to place.
The typical way to celebrate February 14 here in the US is fairly simple: cards, chocolates, gifts in general, as well as many romantic gestures! This is also the case in France, and even Australia as well.
In Italy, it would be common to find people outside, celebrating the advent of spring. You may also find said couples exchanging yummy foods like chocolate-covered hazelnuts, or doing romantic gestures like ‘padlocking’ their love to a bridge (locking a lock to a rail/bridge and throwing away the key, immortalizing their love). In Verona, the celebration lasts 4 days, complete with free concerts and a love letter contest!
In Mexico, Valentine’s Day, or ‘El amor y la amistad’ is celebrated, not only with your significant other, but also with friends and family as well. This celebration lasts for several days, commonly with lots of socialization and gift giving between loved ones, usually flowers or chocolate.
In Lebanon, many people hang red paper hearts, decorated with different sayings and phrases, asking for appreciation from a special someone. These are typically hung on shop doors, as a showing of appreciation towards customers. Another popular way the people celebrate is by decorating eggs in bright colors. Even though it sounds almost Easter-y, this tradition is rooted in the belief that, the more brightly colored the egg is, the more luck you will have.
Valentine’s Day in Korea is very different from what most people celebrate. Instead of 1 or 2 days, Korea celebrates 1 ‘love day’ out of every month of the year. Each of these days have different traditions tied to them. These days range from ‘Hug Day’ to ‘White Day’, to everything else you could imagine in between. In February, however, the actual ‘Valentine’s Day’ takes place, traditionally with the women giving gifts to the men, who will give gifts to the women in return the following month (White Day). However, recently, things have been slowly shifting, and people of both genders have been encouraged to give gifts on Valentines Day.
In conclusion, people express their love for loved ones in many different ways. Nobody expresses their love to one another in the exact same way, because we are all unique and different. That in of itself should be celebrated!