Last updated : Tuesday, September 1, 2009

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Valentine's Day Traditions Around the World

If there's one holiday that's become a worldwide hit, it's Valentine's Day. What can we say, love is a universal theme, but not everyone chooses to celebrate it with roses and boxes of chocolate. After doing a little research, we found plenty of traditions that we wish we could import into our own Valentine's Day practices. See, love—not Hallmark—really does make the world go 'round!

Curiously, many cultures have special traditions reserved for singles. On Malaysia's day of love, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, women write their phone numbers on oranges before throwing them into the closest river with hopes that the man of their dreams might pick one up. Fruit vendors often collect the oranges, which are considered a lucky fruit, and resell them at the market—phone numbers and all! Can't you see a romantic comedy flick starting with a guy finding a "call me" orange in his bag of groceries?

Brazilians celebrate the day of love, called Dia dos Namorados ("Day of Lovers") on June 12th. On the eve before the holiday, women write the names of various crushes on folded-up pieces of paper (which reminds us of MASH). Whichever name they pick from the pile on the following day will be the one they marry, or at least choose to go for. Other South American countries practice the Dia del amor y la amistad ("Love and Friendship Day"), where people are randomly assigned a partner to whom they give a secret gift (which reminds us of Secret Santa).

Scotland has a similar party game for unmarried men and woman. During a Valentine's Day get-together, each single person writes his or her name on a piece of paper, which is then thrown into two hats—one containing the men's names, and another containing the women's names. Everyone draws a name, and the couples pair off for the evening. Since it's unlikely that the names will actually match, the man has to stick with the woman who picked his name, regardless of whose name he picked. 

France had a curious (now banned) custom called "une loterie de amour," where single men and women gathered in houses facing each other. After yelling out to each other, they would pair off, but if the man ended up not liking his Valentine after all, he could desert her in the middle of the day. At night, the deserted women would make a bonfire together to burn pictures of and curse the men who had scorned them. Eventually, the French government shut down the practice for its maliciousness.

Many countries reverse the roles of gift-giving and receiving: that is, the women are responsible for the Valentine's Day festivities while they men wait in anticipation. In Japan, Valentine's Day is literally a commercialized holiday—the candy company Morinaga began the tradition of women giving chocolate to men on February 14. Office ladies, in particular, are obligated to gift their male coworkers with chocolates that are specially designed to communicate their feelings toward each man. Women give honmei-choko ("favorite chocolate") to the man they love, giri-choko ("obligatory chocolate") to a man they feel neutral about, and cho-giri-choko ("super-obligatory cheap chocolate") to someone who is unpopular or disliked. Ouch! On March 14, also known as "White Day," men who received good chocolate buy comparatively expensive gifts for their female beneficiaries. 

In South Korea, the 14th day of every month is dedicated to an aspect of love. For example, May is Rose Day, October is Wine Day, and December is Hug Day. On February 14, women give chocolate to men, and on March 14 (also called "White Day"), men give non-chocolate candy to women. People who didn't receive anything on either day get together on April 14, or Black Day, to eat black bean noodles (jajanmyeon) and lament their singleness. Genius!

Click Here for More Relationship Advice From YourTango:

5 Ways To Get Psyched For Valentine's Day 

Why Chocolate? And Other Valentine's Questions 

5 Benefits To Being Single On Valentine's Day 

Click here to check out the rest of iMag's Love Section.

 

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