With Valentine’s Day soon approaching, it’s interesting to recall that there are so many ways to express love that often vary depending on the culture! Let’s explore Valentine’s Day throughout the world as well as the different ways each culture expresses “I love you” using the power of global translation services.
Valentine’s Day In Japan And Global Translation Services
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is a time where women give chocolate to all men in their life instead of just their romantic partners. Thanks to Japanese translation services, we know the hierarchy of chocolate giving in Japan. Whereas “Honmei” chocolate is meant to be given to a woman’s true love, “giri” chocolate is meant to be given to the other men in the woman’s life.
Why is it only women giving chocolate?: thank an error in translation from the 1950s. When a marketing executive brought this European idea to Japan, it was mistranslated in such a way that it seemed that only women give chocolate gifts to men. Therefore, the chocolate business is extremely busy in Japan during Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day in France And Global Translation Services
We are going to look at France through a historical lens and examine a very interesting tradition the French practice every Valentine’s Day. The French celebrate Valentine’s Day with “une loterie d’amour” which (thanks to French translation services) we now know means “a lottery of love.” This entails single people standing outside houses, signaling other singles in the area to go outside where they can eventually pair up. However, not everyone is able to pair up equally. As a result, the women left behind often make a fire and burn images of the men who left them.
Valentine’s Day in China And Global Translation Services
Valentine’s Day is quite different in China compared to other countries. For starters, China’s Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th Chinese lunar month. As a result, it typically falls in the month of August. The day itself is not called Valentine’s Day. Thanks to Chinese translation services, we know that China’s Qixi Festival means Double Seventh Festival, their day of love. This festival has been celebrated for the past 2,000 years since the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). In rural areas of China, you can see traditional festivities of the Qixi Festival such as women threading a needle under moonlight, young women sitting at a table of offerings displaying their needlework and praying for a good husband, children honoring the ocean by picking bunches of wildflowers and hanging them on the horns of oxen, and making and eating “skill fruit” (fried thin pastries).
Valentine’s Day in Egypt
Egypt absolutely adores Valentine’s Day. Thanks to Arabic translation services, we know that Egyptians attempted to create a version of this holiday translated as “Hearts Day,” although that holiday has died down in terms of popularity. Now, Egyptians celebrate Valentine’s Day similarly to how Westerners do with shops filled with chocolate, flowers and teddy bears.
Valentine’s Day in Germany
Germany’s Valentine’s Day is very interesting, it involves a pig handing out flowers on Valentinstag which, thanks to German translation services, we know is the literal translation of Valentine’s Day. The significance of a pig holding flowers is that there is a balance of luck and lust in love.
Valentine’s Day in Korea
Similarly to Japan, it is mostly women who give men chocolates on Valentine’s Day as a symbol of love. However, these men reciprocate these gifts a month later. Thanks to Korean translation services, we know of a holiday called “White Day” which takes place exactly a month after Valentine’s Day. On this day, men traditionally give the women who got them a gift white gifts in return such as white chocolate and white clothing.
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