This past weekend in the States was the build up to V Day, or Valentine’s Day. What does that mean? Tons of commercials trying to get guys to buy their girl something expensive.
Now you may have noticed in my Swedish Holiday section that I do not mention Valentine’s Day. According to the official portal of Sweden, it is somewhat celebrated in Sweden and has been since the 1980’s. And they even have a name for it. Alla Hjärtans Dag. All Heart’s Day.
I think Valentine’s Day is not such a big deal in Sweden, and not Swedish enough to go into my holiday section. It’s not a big deal in Europe. Unless you want it to be.
And thank goodness. When you are single, you don’t want to hear about it, and if you aren’t single and have someone special, then you can celebrate it privately, if you want. And if you are a guy and forget about it, nobody gets mad because not many people noticed the holiday to begin with!
So after 9 years of being gone, I have my first V Day in the States. And they make sure you don’t forget it.
Not fun. So I say, be Swedish, and don’t go all commercial about it! Don’t spend money on candy you don’t want or things you don’t need. Tell your loved ones you love them, and go on with your day. Do something even more Swedish and watch the Melodifestivalen!
For those of you that do live in Sweden, will you be ignoring this commercial holiday, celebrating your love, or going all out American and buying lots of stuff to woo your gal/guy?
A little note. I wrote this post yesterday, going on various Swedish sites such as the radio and SVT, with no mention at all of VDay.
I did notice that Sweden.se on Facebook reminded followers to remember their loved ones tomorrow.
THAT is what Valentine’s Day should be about!