February 24, 2021
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Header image
Logo

337-706-0116 – On-Air Now

Brigette Rose | Weekdays 11a-3p
Brigette Rose | Weekdays 11a-3p

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • 1063 Rewards Club
    • 1063 Rewards Club – How It Works
    • AcadianaDeals.com
  • On-Air
    • The Dave & Mahoney Morning Show
    • Brigette Rose >
      • Brigette’s Blog
    • Crash
    • Tanya
    • Clint >
      • Clint’s Blog
    • Homegrown
  • Blogs
    • Brigette’s Blog
    • Clint’s Blog
  • Music & More
    • 1063 SESSIONS: IN-STUDIO
    • 106THREE Concert Connection
    • Homegrown
    • Retro Ride @ 5
    • Music Report
    • Inside Story
    • Hollywood Report
    • Sports Report
    • National News
    • State News
  • Connect
    • Contact
    • Request A Song
    • Community Calendar
    • Download @1063RL Mobile App
    • Join @1063RL Text Club
    • Sign Up For Our 1063 Newsletter
    • General Contest Rules
    • Back to School Sweepstakes Official Rules
    • PSA Submission
    • Advertise
    • Careers At Delta Media Corp.
  • Lafayette Parks & Rec Forms New Little League
  • Green Day Releases New Song
  • Sleeves Up Vaccination Event
  • Luck of the Irish Sweepstakes - Win $500
  • Win The Ultimate Tour Experience

Bizarre Valentine’s Day Traditions

Posted by Brigette Rose on February 6, 2020 in Brigette's Blog

Valentine’s Day in America is pretty straight forward… Flowers, heart-shaped candies, and fancy dinners are the “go-to” gifts for lovers in our country. But imagine if instead of flowers, we gave spoons to each other like they do in Wales? In other countries, the holiday is celebrated very differently. Here are some of my favorite ones I’ve discovered!

In China, the equivalent to Valentine’s Day is Qixi, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year. According to Chinese legend, a goddess fell in love with a poor cow herder and eloped. When the goddess’s father found out he sent his queen to bring her back, but in his guilt decided to allow them to see each other once a year on Qixi. To celebrate the holiday, young women in China offer melons and fruits to the goddess in hopes of finding a good husband.

In South Africa, they literally “wear their heart on their sleeve.” Young girls pin their lovers’ names on their sleeves, and in some places, men do it too. This tradition gets its roots from a Roman festival called “Lupercalia.”

Rumor has it that the first Valentine’s Day card originated in France when Charles, Duke of Orleans, sent love letters to his wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415. We here in America have adopted this tradition, and Valentine’s Day cards are used in France to this day as well.

But perhaps a more interesting French Valentine’s Day tradition that no longer exists is “loterie d’amour”, or “drawing for love” which was kind of like a love lottery. Men and women would take turns pairing off, and the men who weren’t satisfied with their match could simply leave a woman for another. All of the unmatched women would gather afterward for a bonfire to burn pictures of the men who wronged them while cursing and insulting the opposite sex. This tradition got so out of control that it was eventually banned by the French government.

In Brazil, women perform rituals called “simpatias” by writing the names of guys they like on pieces of paper, roll them up, and put them in a glass of water under their beds. In the morning, whichever scroll opened the most is supposed to reveal the name of their true love. Brazil’s Valentine’s Day holiday is actually celebrated on June 12th, and is called “Dia dos Namorados,” which means “Lovers’ Day.”

In Wales, men would carve “love spoons” from a piece of wood to give to their special someone. The spoons would have symbols of love like hearts or Celtic knot-work carved on them and are still given for Valentine’s Day, although fewer men are carving them these days and opt to buy them instead.

Nothing says love quite like a … pig? In Germany, Valentine’s Day is celebrated much like it is here, but with one minor difference… many gifts for the holiday are decorated with pigs, sometimes found in sexy poses on chocolates! Pigs are apparently symbols of lust and luck.

In South Korea and a few other places in Asia, things get a little complicated for Valentine’s Day… it’s essentially 3 separate holidays! The gift-giving starts on February 14th, but the tables are turned! Women are expected to give men chocolates, candies, flowers, etc. Then a month later on March 14th, they celebrate “White Day”, that’s when the men woo their ladies with tokens of affection. Don’t worry.. if you’re single there’s still a holiday for you! If you have no one to celebrate with on either Valentine’s Day or White Day… you get “Black Day” on April 14th… The tradition is for single men and women to mourn their single status by eating dark bowls of “jajangmyeon,” which are black bean-paste noodles.

My favorite weird Valentine Day tradition isn’t a real tradition at all… it was one created for the TV show Invader Zim that aired on Nickelodeon in the early 2000s. The show takes place in a dystopian future, and apparently they give each other Valentine meat slabs instead of cards and candy on Valentine’s Day. They never explain exactly why, but in episode 20, Zim’s teacher mentions that it was because of some unpleasant event. At least it’s heart-shaped slabs of meat! In the show, they still use regular Valentine’s Day decorations too, like heart-shaped balloons, despite the odd dystopian spin on the show.

Screencapture from the episode ” Tak: The Hideous New Girl” courtesy of YTV and Nickelodeon

Regardless of your traditions, there’s no wrong way to celebrate Valentine’s Day! I hope you enjoyed learning about these different traditions from around the world (and in fictional worlds)!

SOURCE

SOURCE

SOURCE

Posted in Brigette's Blog | Tagged Acadiana, china, hearts, invader zim, love letters, Lupercalia, mate, orleans, pigs, significant other, south africa, sweetheart, Valentine's Day, wales, zim

Related Posts

Drive-Through COVID-19 Testing Sites→

Acadiana Regional Housing Coalition on Homelessness Raising Funds for Upcoming Freezing Temps→

Thanksgiving Food Drive at BBB→

Lafayette Residents Encouraged to Fill Out Hurricane Damage Assessment Form→

Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Now Playing

Lafayette, Louisiana
67°
overcast clouds
72% humidity
wind: 7m/s SSW
H 67 • L 66
Weather from OpenWeatherMap

106.3 Radio Lafayette on Facebook

@1063RL on Twitter

Tweets by @1063RL

©2021 KYMK-FM | Powered By: Vipology

Menu

  • EEO
  • KYMK Public File
  • Privacy Policy
  • Delta Media Corp.