Chocolates, love spoons and black noodles
Quirks and surprising variations in Valentine celebrations around the world
TODAY is the “most romantic day of the year,” but February 14 wasn’t always about roses, chocolates and candlelit dinners.
The day of hearts was named after Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd century. What may not be familiar to many, however, is how Valentine celebrated love back then, because it was far from the grand expressions of emotion that characterize its modern- day version.
In fact, the priest covertly performed weddings for
soldiers who were forbidden to marry, as part of his vow to minister to Christians suffering from persecution under the Roman Empire.
The day only became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, who replaced the remembrance with the observance of courtly love.
Over time, countries around the world adopted the celebration, choosing Chaucer’s tradition over the darker origins of Valentine’s Day.
Nevertheless, to this day, the ways of expressing one’s love for a special someone differs from country to country.
South Africa. Along with going out for romantic dinners, South Africans wear their hearts on their sleeves on February 14, literally. Tradition further dictates for these hearts to be pinned with the name of the one the “wearer” loves for the entire day. According to research, this serves as a once-a-year opportunity for women to let men know they like them, whereas the boy- courts- girl norm takes place the rest of the time.
Denmark. According Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Valentine’s Day is a relatively new holiday in their country, only celebrated since the early 1990s. Moreover, with the Danes being new to the celebration, they chose to mark the day of love in a most interesting way.
Instead of giving roses, Danish men give women the gaekkebrev, which, believe it or not, is loosely translated to a “joke letter.” In it, however are written original poems or rhymes, then carefully decorated with cut out patterns, and finally sent out anonymously. If a woman who receives a gaekkebrev correctly guessed the sender, she gets an Easter egg from him later that year.
France. Often reputed as the most romantic destination in the world, France has a long and colorful history of celebrating Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, the French celebrated Valentine’s Day with une loterie d’amour or a “drawing for love.” This custom saw single men and women in France standing outside their homes waiting to pair up and hopefully fall in love. A man is allowed to approach a woman along his street but if he realizes he isn’t particularly attracted to her, he can leave her and move on to another. When only single women are left at the end of the day, they then gather to make a fire and burn the images of the men who abandoned them.
This ceremony, while therapeutic for the single women involved, soon got out of hand and was banned by the French government.
Italy. One unique and age- old Italian Valentine’s Day tradition is for young, unmarried girls to wake up before dawn to look out for a future husband. The belief was that the first man a woman sees on Valentine’s Day is the man she would marry within a year, or at least strongly resemble the man fate chose for her.
A likely recipe for disaster, Italians have since veered away from the tradition and today exchange gifts with significant others. Generally, they give out Baci Perugina— small, chocolate- covered hazelnuts wrapped in romantic quotes.
England. On the eve on Valentine’s Day, women in England used to place five bay leaves on their pillows — one at each corner and the last on the center —to be able to dream about their future husbands.
When that didn’t work, a more sensible tradition originated form Norfolk where Jack Valentine became a Valentine Santa of sorts, knocking on homes to give children candies and small gifts.
Wales. The Welsh observe a different day to celebrate romantic love. On January 25 each year with their own patron saint of lovers, Saint Dwynwen.
A traditional romantic Welsh gift, meanwhile, is known as the love spoon. As early as the 17th century, Welsh men would carve intricate wooden spoons as a token of affection for their significant other. The patterns and symbols on these love spoons, each signify a different meaning, among them horseshoes, which is meant to give good luck; wheels, to symbolize their support, and keys to the giver’s heart.
Today, love spoons continue to be given in Wales not just on January 25 but as gifts on weddings, anniversaries and births.
South Korea. Valentine’s Day celebrations in this country are also uniquely its own. Firstly, it is observed from February all the way until April
Gift- giving starts on February 14 when women spoil their men with chocolates, candies and flowers. Adapted from Japanese tradition, the tables turn on March 14 when men shower their sweethearts with chocolates, flowers and gifts on what they call White Day.
Another month later on April 14, singletons who had no gifts on Valentine’s Day or White Day, are allowed to “mourn” together on Black Day. What they do meet up in restaurants to eat jajangmyeon, a dish made from white Korean noodles and black bean paste sauce, simply called “black noodles.”
Elders say that the tradition of eating black noodles with other single friends is actually a celebration of single life, while the jaded see it as for what it is—a consolation dinner for being single.
Japan. On Valentine’s Day, Japanese women give their men one of two chocolates—the giri- choco (obligation chocolate), or Honmei- choco. The giri is meant for friends, colleagues, and bosses, while the Honmei, which is usually homemade, is reserved for boyfriends and husbands.
Men return the favor on White Day like the Koreans, a month later, on March 14, with gifts that range from flowers to chocolates and even jewelry, depending on the level of the relationship. These gifts are further expected to be three times the value of what the men received from the women.
China. China has celebrated its own version of Valentine’s Day for centuries. Their equivalent to Valentine’s Day is the Qixi, or the Seventh Night Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month each year.
It is said that the Qixi festival originates from a folklore of two starcrossed lovers—a cow-herd and a King’s daughter—who are forced apart and only allowed to reunite one day a year. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month each year.
Today, during the Quixi festival, couples go to temples and pray for prosperity by day, and by night look to the heavens waiting for the stars Vega and Altair (representing the cowherd and King’s daughter) pass one another on their yearly reunion.
Philippines. Like most global celebrations, Filipinos took cues from the West to celebrate Valentine’s Day with roses, chocolates and special dates. However, one practice that has become common across the country on February 14 are mass weddings, mounted usually by local governments to save engaged couples from having to spend for traditional weddings.