Valentine’s Day in England. What could be done to celebrate and cheer up the atmosphere? Tonight at ASDA I was looking for some of those small Valentine’s Day Cards to give out to the kids I teach. An unidentified English informant said “OH NO. You cant do that. They are only for lovers. Child Safety will be all over you if you give kids Valentines!”
I typed into Google… “How do the British celebrate Valentine’s Day?”.
What came up first? Nudists can celebrate Valentine’s Day nude in pub
It didn’t take me too long to realize that a lack of definitive findings about what anyone in Britain really does on Valentine’s day seems to say that Brits celebrate it more quietly than America.
Well, unless you were alive sometime ago. According to this a website I found, in Great Britain on Valentine’s Day Eve, women used to pin four bay leaves to the corners of their pillow and eat eggs with salt replacing the removed yokes. They believed they would then dream of their future husbands.
Ok, that’s like, not what women do here anymore, so where can I find out some more info?
So I decided to go right to the source: Mr. Chill, my English boyfriend. An interview:
Tell our readers a bit about you before we begin.
I am a Cumbrian in my late thirties, drive a Honda Civic and support Everton FC. I enjoy a fine single-malt whiskey on the night time.
Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
I do now having had my eyes widened and opened by an American lady who celebrates EVERYTHING! I think that Valentine’s day is something that Brits reluctantly do , something that HAS to be done as opposed to something that British men feel fantastic and wonderful about. In fact this is how Valentine’s day IS in Britain, we just don’t do big heart-felt speeches like you Americans do. British people are so reserved and held back that it is an understated event. People keep most of what they feel hidden deep down and then let 10% go free for Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day gifts sold online in the UK are HUGE.
Why?
Because British people feel strange going out and buying gifts– and if they are seen at Tesco’s it is embarrassing. You will see everyone looking left and right at the cards to see if anyone is looking at them. They want to get in and out FAST.
Does this mean my gift will be bought online?
That’s for me to know and you to wonder.
Anything else you want to tell people about Valentine’s Day in Britain?
That’s it. Oh and that everyone breathes a sigh of relief once the 15th arrives.
(So there you have it folks, words straight from a British man– and of course, Happy Valentine’s Day!!)