by Emily Connor
I hate Valentines Day. Always have, always will. I suppose that I just never saw the point of such a holiday. Sure, the original concept of the holiday was to celebrate St. Valentine and the wonders of love and affection, surprising your special someone with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates-- despite all of this I still hate the day. I think I can recall purposely skipping school on pretty much every February 14th of my high school years.
If you thought that Valentines Day wasn't burdensome enough already, the Japanese spin on the holiday will really get you going. There are two Valentines Day-type holidays in this country; the usual February 14th Valentines Day, and another one on March 14th called 'White Day'. On February 14th, women are expected to hand-make chocolate for their significant others (and also male friends), and on White Day men are expected to give back chocolate to the important women in their lives. Although White Day has been around since the 1970's, Korea and Taiwan are the only two countries besides Japan to celebrate the day. (Actually, in South Korea they also seem to have similar holidays called Rose Day, Yellow Day, Black Day and Orange Day, but since I'm no expert on South Korean holidays I won't go into that.)
Yes, by the way, I did say 'hand-made chocolate'. Simply buying nice chocolates doesn't quite cut it in this country, and hand-made chocolate is much more preferred than store-bought chocolates. Buying chocolates at the store is not taboo by any means (you should see the chocolate section at some department stores on February 13th!) but unless you're willing to dish out a reasonable amount of money on the candy, you're better off to make it by hand. Many stores sell kits just for the occasion; box-mixes for making chocolates accompanied by molds in every cute heart-shape imaginable and small doilies with ribbons for packaging up the chocolates after and if one succeeded in making them. I guess it's the thought that counts when it comes to gift-giving, but I just can't imagine making chocolate for anyone. Not even myself.
I'm not sure exactly why I despise Valentines Day and White Day so much... I suppose that in a way they are just nice days to promote loving the people close to you. On another level thug,it just seems like another commercial holiday, especially in countries like Japan when chocolate companies actually make up their own holidays in order to boost sales. White Day? Give me a break. I say that the Japanese do like the (most the) rest of the world, and that men and women exchange chocolates on the same day of the year at the same time.
I rest my case there, world.
I hate Valentines Day. Always have, always will. I suppose that I just never saw the point of such a holiday. Sure, the original concept of the holiday was to celebrate St. Valentine and the wonders of love and affection, surprising your special someone with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates-- despite all of this I still hate the day. I think I can recall purposely skipping school on pretty much every February 14th of my high school years.
If you thought that Valentines Day wasn't burdensome enough already, the Japanese spin on the holiday will really get you going. There are two Valentines Day-type holidays in this country; the usual February 14th Valentines Day, and another one on March 14th called 'White Day'. On February 14th, women are expected to hand-make chocolate for their significant others (and also male friends), and on White Day men are expected to give back chocolate to the important women in their lives. Although White Day has been around since the 1970's, Korea and Taiwan are the only two countries besides Japan to celebrate the day. (Actually, in South Korea they also seem to have similar holidays called Rose Day, Yellow Day, Black Day and Orange Day, but since I'm no expert on South Korean holidays I won't go into that.)
Yes, by the way, I did say 'hand-made chocolate'. Simply buying nice chocolates doesn't quite cut it in this country, and hand-made chocolate is much more preferred than store-bought chocolates. Buying chocolates at the store is not taboo by any means (you should see the chocolate section at some department stores on February 13th!) but unless you're willing to dish out a reasonable amount of money on the candy, you're better off to make it by hand. Many stores sell kits just for the occasion; box-mixes for making chocolates accompanied by molds in every cute heart-shape imaginable and small doilies with ribbons for packaging up the chocolates after and if one succeeded in making them. I guess it's the thought that counts when it comes to gift-giving, but I just can't imagine making chocolate for anyone. Not even myself.
I'm not sure exactly why I despise Valentines Day and White Day so much... I suppose that in a way they are just nice days to promote loving the people close to you. On another level thug,it just seems like another commercial holiday, especially in countries like Japan when chocolate companies actually make up their own holidays in order to boost sales. White Day? Give me a break. I say that the Japanese do like the (most the) rest of the world, and that men and women exchange chocolates on the same day of the year at the same time.
I rest my case there, world.
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