Thoughts this Valentine's Day

Being in Sweden this February has been quite a different affair to what I experienced in both South Africa and South Korea. There hasn't been a barrage of hearts, flowers, and candy filling shop windows. There have been a few decorations but not the Valentine's mayhem you would see in SA.

Actually the only odd thing I did notice is that as soon as February hit a lot more lingerie adverts started to spring up. There is now one at almost every bus stop. Is this just coincidence? I have also seen more vanilla heart pastries in stores and being advertised in the paper and of course there are invites to all sorts of Valentine's Day parties including tag parties.

Yummy looking Vanilla Hearts (taken off of kingarthur.com)

The advert that's at most bus stops

I don't know if it's just me but tag parties strike me as being totally weird. What is a tag party? Well you go to a party and you were a tag or a different colour shirt to indicate your status: single, taken, not sure. How primitive? I don't mean to sound like a bitch here but seriously! So what if you happen to be wearing a taken tag at a party that is clearly made for a bunch of horny people only looking for single tags, or hoping to sway the likes of a confused tag, you are likely to be spending the night playing with your straw. It just sounds like a party that as you walk into the room all you would be able to smell is sex and desperation. And then, what if you are wearing an available tag (putting yourself totally out there) but still noone approaches you. Eish! OK, ok maybe I am overanalysing this and being a little to catty here it's more than likely just going to end up being a big piss up like any other party.

Moving right along....as I was saying, not much commercial hype around Valentines in Sweden (or should I say Lund because I have no idea what the rest of Sweden looks like at the moment).

The only tie Sweden has to Valentine's Day is that in the 1960s flower sellers inspired by American counterparts started to promote flowers for Valentine's Day (so it had commercial beginnings) and it started to gain some momentum in the 1980s. And that is about as detailed a history there is for Sweden and Valentine's Day but from what I can tell people still like going out for dinner and spending some quality time with people they care about (whether a lover or not) and Valentine's Day appears to provide the perfect excuse.

I like this! Although the commercial side of Valentine's Day back home could get overwhelming it was always a nice excuse to stop and do something with someone you loved. And yes I know there will be people saying but you should appreciate the people you love everyday but unfortunately, I'd hate to break it to these die hard romantics, that's just not reality. Inbetween stressful jobs, studying and all the other crap that requires our attention on a daily basis loved ones don't get the attention they deserve and Valentine's Day provides the perfect excuse to remind yourself to do something special for someone who is special to you!!

So Happy Valentine's Day everyone I hope you have a great time whether you are reading a book, cuddling with someone special (which would be epic considering the snowy weather today), going to a tag party, or just watching a movie.