Ystäväpäivä

Yes, Hyvää Ystäväpäivä! Happy Valentine's Day!! Or is it, Happy "Valentine's" Day?? First of all sorry this is 6 days after v-day, but hey at least I am getting to it now . . . . Back to v-day. So, it seems that Finland does 'celebrate' Valentine's Day; however, they celebrate it with different intentions involved. The first item to note when saying Hyvää Ystäväpäivä is the word Ystävä. This word in Finnish stands for "friend" in English. My Kummi friend Janika (or Eureka; haha, sorry inside joke), said that they do not discriminate between the singles and couples. I thought, "These Finns are an egalitarian society!" Now, don't get me wrong, sure they have little hearts, candies, and other commerical items for sale, but it isn't such a big deal here as it is in the USA. In fact, most of Europe, even the FRENCH, don't really take Valentine's Day very seriously. Delphine one of my French roomies said that she didn't need one day to tell her boyfriend she loved him. But she did send him these goofy little heartsy, gag-me gifts.

So, what exactly is this day to you? Who is St. Valentine (I have been meaning to research this, but it hasn't happened yet)? Should this day also be called "Singles Awareness Day," to help make this day more "user friendly"?