14C UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
valentine's day gift guide
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8.2006
All around the WORLD same LOVE
Valentine's Day celebrations vary for Jayhawks from different countries
BY PATRICK LUIZ
SULLIVAN DE OLIVEIRA
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORRESPONDENT
A world full of love
If you are committed to someone on Feb. 14, you will almost certainly give and receive a Hallmark card and maybe other gifts. You might go out to dinner for a romantic evening.
But have you ever stopped and wondered how people in other countries celebrate Valentine's day? The Web site,
www.stvalentinesday.org, offers plenty of information about traditions around the world.
Additionally, the University of Kansas is home to so many international students that you can always get some firsthand information.
Because of globalization, Valentine's Day is now very similar all around the world, but local traditions make the difference.
Sonnets and tabloids
Great Britain was home to William
Shake- speare, so it's no surprise that weeks before Valentine's Day newspapers, magazines and tabloids
pers, magazines and tabloids start publishing sonnets and other forms of poetry.
British children also sing special songs and are rewarded with candy, fruit or money on the holiday. The British tabloids also use Valentine's Day to make jokes and utilize that famous British sense of "humour."
The consequences of French passion
In France, celebrating Valentine's Day is strictly for lovers.
"I was really surprised when I went into the Valentine's Day card section and saw mother to son cards. I suppose it's a kind of love, but we don't have these kinds of cards in France," said Sophie Delahaye, Paris, graduate student. "Valentine's Day there is celebrated only by lovers."
Historically, the French would celebrate the day with an interesting tradition known as "une loterie d'amour" or "a drawing for love." On Valentine's Day, single men and women, young and old, went into houses facing each other. Men and women would call out from one window to another and pair off. If the man wasn't particularly interested in his valentine, he would leave her. As a consequence, a bonfire was lit afterward where women would burn images of the men that didn't love them. This custom was eventually banned because of the
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