Je t’aime, suki desu, ich liebe dich.
Love may be the international language, but when it comes to Valentine’s Day everybody says “I love you” in his or her own way.
Around the world, many people celebrate Valentine’s Day in the traditional Western fashion by dining out with their sweethearts or sending them a box of chocolates. However, many cultures put a spin on the holiday with variations on traditional dating habits and gifts.
Charlie Quirk, a student from Australia, said the only difference between America’s version of the holiday and Australia’s is the weather.
“At home the hottest month is February,” Quirk said. “I don’t know what the temperature is, but it feels like it cracks 92 degrees every day. Every Valentine’s Day function I’ve been involved with has involved something outside.”
The warm weather allows couples to take advantage of dating venues that might elude February daters in the Pacific Northwest. Quirk said some popular Valentine’s dates
include going to the beach, having a picnic or dining at an open-air restaurant on the river.
“Probably the biggest one that comes to mind is the tradition of going to an outdoor cinema,” Quirk said. “They are great fun. There are heaps of couples there all year round, but on Valentine’s Day every person there is in a couple.”
In Japan, University alumna Yuka Kobayashi said the Valentine’s Day tradition is to be untraditional.
“Valentines are only given from the girl to the boy,” Kobayashi said. “In the past, girls didn’t come up to guys, but Valentine’s Day was one day of the year they did.”
However, Kobayashi said girls are not left empty-handed. On White Day, or March 14, boys who received Valentines a month earlier give a similar gift back to their admirer.
“The candy companies started it,” Kobayashi said of White Day. “It was a good chance to sell more chocolate.”
Japan started celebrating the holiday in 1958, and Kobayashi says it is primarily commercial.
“It’s just like Christmas — how it started doesn’t matter,” Kobayashi said. “It’s an excuse to sell.”
Like Japan, India only recently added Valentine’s Day to its holiday calendar. According to BBC News correspondent Vijay Rana, India began celebrating the holiday a decade ago.
“Before that, hardly anyone celebrated Valentine’s Day in India. Purists dubbed it as another decadent influence of the West,” Rana wrote in an article.
Valentine’s Day specials air on Indian television, and love letter-writing competitions are held, Rana said. Another modern trend is the street Romeo.
“Weeks before Valentine’s Day, street Romeos appear everywhere,” Rana said. “Many of them pretend to enact the Bollywood (Indian movie industry) style boy-meets-girl stories that often degenerate into verbal abuse.”