The world celebrates the day of love with pomp and show and a lot of love. This is how they do it:
Australia
The miners who were suddenly in possession of money during the Australian gold rush at the Ballarat Mines were willing to pay a princely sum for elaborate valentines and merchants in the country would ship orders for their lady love for thousands of pounds at a time.
America
The US didn’t spare the day of love from its capitalism. Cards form the basis of love expression in t he States. Earlier cards were imported from abroad, due to the poor quality of American paper, which was not suitable for embossing. Today, American children usually exchange valentines with their friends and there may even be a classroom party.
Britain
The poets of Britain have probably penned the majority of the best-loved romantic verses associated with Saint Valentine. Different regions of the nation celebrate their own customs to honor this day, although the sending of cards and gifts of flowers and chocolates is standard procedure throughout the country. One uniform custom is the singing of special songs by children, who then receive gifts of candy, fruit or money as per Novareinna.com.
In Wales many people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen (St Dwynwen`s Day) on 25 January instead of or as well as St Valentine`s Day.
In Finland, Valentine`s Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend`s day". The day is about friends and not just lovers.
According to Jewish tradition the 15th day of the month of Av - Tu B`Av (usually late August) is the festival of love. In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards, where the boys would be waiting for them.
The Danish Valentine card is known as a "lover`s card." Older versions of this greeting came in the form of a transparency which, when held up to the light, depicted the image of a lover handing his beloved a gift. One custom in Denmark is for people to send pressed white flowers called Snowdrops to their friends
In Italy, Valentine`s Day was once celebrated as a Spring Festival, held in the open air, where young people would gather in tree arbors or ornamental gardens to listen to music and the reading of poetry. However, over the course of the years, this custom steadily ceased and has not now been celebrated for centuries.
In Japan, Valentine`s Day is celebrated on two different dates. February 14 and March 14. On the first date, the female gives a gift to the male and on the second date, known as White Day and supposedly introduced by a marshmallow company in the 1960s, the male has to return the gift he received on February 14. Thus, strictly speaking, a Japanese female has the luxury of actually choosing her own gift.
The traditional gift of candy takes place in Korea on February 14, but only from females to males. There is another special day for males to give gifts to females and this is celebrated on March 14. Very similar to the custom in Japan, March 14 in Korea is known as "White Day." On "White Day," many young men confess their love for the first time to their sweethearts.
In Spain, it is customary for courting couples to exchange gifts on Valentine`s Day and for husbands to send their wives bouquets of roses.
Valentine`s Day is celebrated in Taiwan on February 14, but there is also a special Valentine`s Day on July 7 of the lunar calendar. Both dates are equally important. Many men purchase expensive bouquets of roses and other flowers for their sweethearts on these days. According to Taiwan tradition, the color and number of the roses holds much significance. For example, one red rose means "an only love," eleven roses means "a favorite," ninety-nine roses means "forever," and one hundred eight roses means "marry me."
