Filled with love and joy, Valentine’s Day is usually a special day to all, whether people believe it to be a commercial holiday or not. However, Valentine’s Day is not only what some consider “an American corporate holiday;” it’s also celebrated worldwide with lots of different traditions and days it resides on.

In South Africa, the women will pin their partner’s name to their shirt to show how much they love them publicly. They’ll do the same if they have a crush and want to grab their attention! Sometimes the men will also participate in this trend, although it is very rare. I personally like their tradition since it seems affordable and thoughtful.

A tradition I find the most interesting is the one in Wales. On January 25th, also known as “the day of San Dwynwen,” partners will gift each other handcrafted wooden spoons. I find this to be very sweet since they not only put thought but time into these gifts. It’s also very useful, especially for soup lovers like myself.

Valentine’s Day is also not just a single day in some countries such as Argentina, South Korea, and Japan. These countries will sometimes keep the holiday going, which is exactly what South Korea does. They use each 14th of the month as an excuse to celebrate their love for each other by making up different little holidays. They could say something like March 14th is the day of roses, or April 14th is the day of hugs. They constantly show their love, and I find that really remarkable (maybe even tiring).

Lastly, the one I think is by far the best, is the tradition in Estonia. They don’t just celebrate romantic love, they celebrate all kinds of love. This day, also known as “Sobrapaev” is considered friendship day! They celebrate each other and their friendships as well as the other relationships they have. I think this is very special because Valentine’s Day in the U.S. is mostly based on romantic relationships, and I think it’s important to celebrate all.

Credit to information found on Discover.com.