Sean and I will have a difficult time finding an English Valentine’s Day card here in Dan Yang, China. I guess this will force us to use our creative side to make our own. This will make our day very special but another thing that has made our day special is that we will both be on China television!
Yesterday, Sean was taken by surprise when our host at the school interrupted him in the middle of class to be interviewed by a T.V. crew. He was asked about Valentine’s Day in America, what it meant to him and what he would normally do to celebrate it. (I am sure that he did not mention that for the past few years he has had to buy several valentines gifts for his several valentines…haha) Unfortunately, they also asked about the origin of the holiday which he was not quite sure about (neither was I). And then today, as I was mopping our floors, I received another call from our host wanting to interview both of us. I quickly got dressed and immediately started researching the history of Valentine’s Day (we would not be caught twice in the dark!) I met with our host and then found Sean after his last class of the day. The television crew taped us walking together and then they wanted to come to our flat to do the rest of the video. (I was glad I just finished cleaning!)
They proceeded to tape Sean writing out a card to me and then they had us act out a scene from a typical Valentine’s Day exchange of flowers, candy and a card. It was very cute. To my dismay, they never asked again about the origin of Valentine’s Day. Apparently, they too, have Google here! The spot will be aired tonight at 9pm and I am hoping that our cable box will work for the few minutes that we need it to work. Just like many things in our apartment, the cable box still needs fixing. However, our host intends on taping the clip for us and I hope somehow we are able to show it to you. (well if it looks good we will show it to you!)
We have been celebrating Valentine’s Day in America since 1840 (thanks Google) and it is just now starting to catch on in China. However, it seems that many men (boys) spend way too much money on gifts for their special valentine and it has become a social and economic problem, especially for the students in high school. This is why the news team is doing a spot on what a typical American would give to his beloved to show his affection. This will be an informative public service announcement and terrific publicity for our schools. Our host was very happy that we agreed to do it. Duh, Sean and I say “NO” to a chance to be on television? NOT!
And by the way, Valentine’s Day started many, many years ago - back in 3rd century Rome. An emperor decided that men that were not married made better soldiers so it was forbidden for priests to perform marriage ceremonies for young men. Well, a priest by the name of Valentine disobeyed the emperor’s orders and continued to perform marriages of young couples and eventually he was discovered and sentenced to death. From prison, the night before his execution, he sent his beloved a letter and signed it, “From your Valentine”. A phrase we still use today.
OK, you can believe it or not. I happen to think that it was something that a man with the last name of Valentine who worked at Hallmark invented because Valentine’s Day is the second biggest card giving holiday, second to Christmas. Maybe that is a bit cynical. Happy Valentine’s Day, regardless!
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