Check out our CULTURAL TIDBIT section and amaze your friends and family with your knowledge of world cultures.  You may be surprised by what you find out. This month we are going to look at ways that we can incorporate world cultures into our traditional Valentine’s Day celebrations 

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In any language its still LOVE!  Find out how to say I Love You in different languages and how to celebrate using different ideas from around the world.

Skip the roses and chocolates this year and put a little cultural zing into your Valentine’s Day celebration.  You’ll save money and calories by incorporating traditions from all over the world and if you don’t like anything about Valentine’s Day, you can look to other cultures for a way out! We probably get our Valentine traditions from our European ancestors.  And while there is no real consensus on the origins of Valentine’s Day there are links to several ancient festivals and beliefs. From the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia on February 15^th-where men struck women with strips of animal hide to promote fertility to the old English belief that birds choose their mates on February 14^th., our Valentine’s Day probably came from a combination of sources–plus the belief that spring is a time for lovers. We can’t discount St. Valentine’s influence either.  It seems that Valentine ignored Roman Emperor Claudius II’s order not to allow young men to marry-Claudius thought single men made better soldiers-and secretly married young couples.   Another Valentine story may be the source of present day Valentine’s Day cards.  Rather than disobeying Claudius’s orders, some believe that Valentine refused to worship Roman guards.  When he was tossed in jail children threw loving notes between the bars of his cell. Of course, we can’t go about hitting women with animal hides but we can look to other cultures to enhance our Valentine’s Day experience without breaking the bank!If you and your sweetie are a perfect match, you can celebrate Valentine’s in Vietnamese style by wearing the same style and color clothing.  If that’s not your speed and you don’t have a special someone, follow the lead of English women and pin four bay leaves to your pillow and eat egg whites to dream about your future mate.  Girls, write your lover’s name on a piece of paper, attach it to a ball and drop it in some water.  Whichever paper comes up first has the name of your future husband!    The jokesters among us will appreciate the Danish tradition of swapping  poems and candy snowdrops. Not serious love notes here, but joking letters called  gaekkebrev. The sender signs his or her name in dots. If the receiver guesses the correct name then the sender will provide a candy egg at Easter time.  Nothing like delayed gratification!

Incorporating a new game into your Valentine’s Day routine is also a good way to shake things up.  In the Dominican Republic a game called “Angelito” is common. Dominicans rip pieces of paper and write the name of another person, either girl or boy. Then each player gives his/her “angelito” a present. El Salvadorians play a similar game but give it different name-“Amigo Secreto” (secret friend).  This kind of “secret Santa” game takes a lot of the stress and expense about what to give and who to give to on Valentine’s Day.

 

If you aren’t ready to give up on the chocolates, girls can give dark chocolate to boys they like on February 14^th and boys can give cookies or white chocolate to the girls that they like on March 14^th as they do in Japan. Of course, this tradition may cause the girls angst as they wait with baited breath to see who responds to their gifts.
    

If you are looking for another day to honor your loved ones consider Chinese Valentine’s Day. Chinese Valentine’s Day is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar. This day is about the love story between the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. When the Emperor separated them the 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. They are allowed to meet only once a year on the day of 7th day of 7th lunar month. 

 

Chinese Valentine’s Day is better known as ‘Festival of the Double Sevens’ or Qi Xi - ‘The Night of Sevens’ The other popular names for the festival are Seven Sister’s Festival’ and ‘Daughter’s Festival’. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves having a good handcrafting skill like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. On that night, the unmarried girls may pray for the Weaving Maid star to let them become smarter. When the star Vega is high up in the sky, girls do a test, which is to put a needle on the water surface. If the needle doesn’t sink, then girl is already smart enough and ready to find a husband. Girls may ask for any wish, but only one per year.

You can skip Valentine’s Day if you want.  In countries like Nepal and India not everyone is allowed to celebrate.  High school students who are caught giving notes or gifts to the object of their affection face alerting their parents to their romance. Even more conservative Middle and South Asian countries have cracked down on shops marketing Valentine’s Day. Religious groups in Pakistan have held protests against the February 14^th celebration and many people in the region consider Valentine’s Day another example of Western decadence and an insult to Hinduism and Islam.

At the end of the day, Valentine’s Day provides us with the ability to teach our children how others celebrate Valentine’s Day an understanding of how traditions evolve and an understanding of other people.  This kind of acceptance and respect is a crucial element in raising kids to be global citizen.

 And you don’t have to wait until Valentine’s Day to express your feelings.  Do it today!