Valentine's Day around the world

Although Valentine’s Day is all about love, there is quite a bit of controversy around it. Many look forward to this occasion to spend some romantic time with their loved ones while others try to escape from this “over-commercialized”  holiday saying that love should be celebrated every day of the year, not just on February 14th.

In the US, it is often referred to as a “Hallmark holiday” but have you heard about the interesting Valentine’s Day traditions around the world? This article goes into details about how Valentine's Day is celebrated in countries such as Japan, South Korea, Finland, Estonia and England, and the regional variations as well. I have always known about "White Day" celebrated a month after Valentine's Day on March 14th, in many Asian countries. What I didn't know was "Black Day" celebrated another month after on April 14th in South Korea, by singles that didn't receive any love or gifts on Valentine's Day or White Day. Seems pretty complicated but I do like that you get to celebrate with your friends on Black Day, eating "JaJangMyeon" together, a yummy noodle with dark sauce on top. Any reason for a little JaJangMyeon is a good reason indeed.