Valentine’s Day

On Tuesday, February 14, much of the world, Christian and otherwise, celebrates Valentine’s Day. But what is the story behind this much observed day? The origin of this date is uncertain: It seems to be linked to the pagan tradition of the feast of the Lupercalia, a Roman spring ceremony. On February 14, the sacred marriage between Zeus and Hera took place in Athena, as well as the Roman festival in honor of the fertility god, Lupercus.

February 13 was the day dedicated to peace, harmony, love, and family. The priests of Lupercus performed a purification ritual involving the sacrifice of goats and the consumption of wine. After the ritual, the priests would go to the streets of Rome with the goatskins touching anyone whom they encountered. Young women took advantage of the opportunity because it was said that by touching the goatskins, they could improve their chances of giving birth to a child. During Lupercalia, girls’ names were collected in boxes and boys extracted them. Then the boys would pair up with the girls whose names they had selected. The pairing was to last all year, but most of the time, the result was just a physical relationship.

At another place and time, this day was long ago called Birds’ Wedding Day, mainly by people from the Nordic countries and the British Isles because people imagined that birds chose their mate exactly on February 14. But what of the well-known Saint Valentine? Information about his life is conflated with the legend. The biographic sources Martyrologium Hieronymianum (5th–6th century A.D.) and Passio Sancti Valentini (8th century A.D.) seem to convey the existence of two saints named Valentine, with the first being a martyr from Rome, and the second being a martyr from Terni. But in recent years, a new hypothesis has been adopted by the scholar Vincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai, which proposes that Valentine from Terni and Valentine from Rome were the same person. Therefore, there was only one Valentinus, Bishop of Terni, who arrived in Rome in 270 A.D. during the Christian persecution by the Roman emperor Claudius II; there he was killed and buried.

Valentine was called to Rome by the orator Craton because news of the saint’s work had spread throughout the capital. Craton was impressed with Valentine’s sanctity, charity, and apostolate. He hoped Valentine could heal his son, who had been ill for several years. After the young man was healed, Valentine converted Craton's family to Christianity.

In fact, tradition says that the saint united in marriage a Christian girl named Serapia and a Roman centurion. This act contravened Claudius’ edict, which forbade marriage between legionaries and women who belonged to the Christian faith. Due to these events, Valentine was imprisoned and sentenced to be beheaded on

▲ Saint Valentine (wikimedia.commons)

February 14, 273 A.D. It is said that his remains were buried 63 Roman miles from Rome on Via Flaminia, the ancient road leading to Terni (Italy).

February 14, as a feast day, was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 A.D. There is disagreement amongst historians about whether the holiday was meant to replace the pagan fertility festival Lupercalia. Either way, as time passed, more romantic connotations came to be associated with the saint. Over time, the holiday and Christian significance were replaced by Valentine’s Day, which has as its spiritual patron Cupid, the god of love, which essentially generated the commercial side of the holiday.

The man famous for supposedly sending the first Valentine’s Day card was a 21-year-old Frenchman Charles, Duke of Orleans, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London after having been captured during the Battle of Agincourt (1415). He sent a poem titled “Farewell to Love” to his 16-year-old wife, Bonne of Armagnac.

Dydd Santes Dwynwen is considered to be the Welsh equivalent to Valentine’s Day and is celebrated on January 25 every year. In the 1960s, as the commercialization of St. Valentine’s Day continued apace, the first St. Dwynwen’s Day cards were produced in Wales. St. Dwynwen’s Day is in part a protest against the globalizing commercialization of St. Valentine’s Day. But it is also an attempt to find a place in the same marketplace for a distinctively Welsh product.

The holiday has been celebrated in Britain since the 17th century. The most valued Valentine’s Day gifts are handmade pastries and sweets. British tradition includes the baking of a cake in the shape of a heart, which is given to a loved one.

In France, a traditionally Catholic country, Valentine’s Day was traditionally observed with une loterie d’amour in which single people stood in front of houses calling out other singles. They eventually paired off for the evening. After the practice got out of hand and was banned by the French government, sending greetings became popular. Today, French Valentine’s Day revolves around gift-giving, as is common in many Western countries.

In Denmark and Norway, Valentine’s Day is not celebrated on a large scale, but many people take the time to spend some romantic time with their life partner or send a greeting card to a secret love. In Sweden, February 14 is called “All Hearts Day,” but it is not an official holiday.

In Finland and Estonia, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of friendship rather than love. In fact, February 14 is “Friends’ Day,” a day when people usually give greeting cards and small gifts to friends. The streets are decorated with hearts, but the holiday emphasizes love for friends and family. However, February 14 is a suitable day for getting engaged in these two countries as well.

In Slovenia, a proverb says that Valentine’s Day brings the keys that unlock plant roots, so on February 14, plants and flowers begin to grow. Valentine’s Day was celebrated as the day when work began in the vineyards and fields. It is also said

that birds get married on this day. Certainly, it is only recently that it began to be celebrated as “Love Day.” “Love Day” was traditionally March 12, St. Gregory’s Day.

In Romania, the traditional holiday for lovers is Dragobete, which is celebrated on February 24. The name comes from a character in Romanian folklore who is supposed to be the son of an old woman called Dochia. Etymologically, part of the name Dragobete can also be found in the Romanian word for “love,” dragoste. Romania has also started to celebrate Valentine’s Day, although it already had its own traditional holiday in Dragobete. These days, all Romanians are familiar with Valentine’s Day, but very few know about Dragobete.

In Turkey, Valentine’s Day has become popular in the last 15 to 20 years due to the rising consumption economy. Malls and shops are decorated, roses and chocolates are sold, and restaurants and nightclubs are visited. Its traditional lovers’ day is St. Gregory’s Day.

In Persian culture (Iran), the day dedicated to love takes place on February 17. It was celebrated in the Great Persian Empire as early as the 20th century B.C. In Egypt, there is another holiday on the 4th called the “Day of Egyptian Love.”

The people of Ghana have adopted many Western traditions similar to Valentine’s Day. However, since 2007, February 14 has been declared “National Chocolate Day,” which is fitting given that Ghana is one of the largest exporters of chocolate in the world. The decision was made by the Ghana Ministry of Tourism out of a desire to promote the state’s contribution to global chocolate production and to attract foreign tourists to West Africa – both commercial considerations.

People in the United States most likely began exchanging greetings on this holiday around 1700. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first greeting cards in America. Known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” she made elaborate greeting cards out of silk, ribbons, and colorful images.

Currently, according to the Greeting Card Association, approximately one billion greeting cards are sent globally each year on Valentine’s Day. This makes Valentine’s Day the second busiest holiday of the year (following Christmas) in terms of the number of greeting cards sold.

In Brazil, Valentine's Day (or Día de los Novios) is celebrated on June 12. Couples give each other gifts such as chocolate, greeting cards, and usually a bouquet of flowers. It was chosen as the day before Saint Anthony’s Day, known there as the saint of marriage, when many single women perform folk rituals to find a good and loving husband. In Brazil, February 14 is not used, as this date is too close to another holiday called Carnival.

Mexico celebrates Valentine’s Day (or El Dia del Amor y la Amistad) on February 14. As in many other countries, it is celebrated with balloons, flowers – particularly roses – and other gifts to express one’s love. Many couples go out for dinner to make the most of a romantic evening.

In Colombia, Día de Amor y Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship) is celebrated on the third Saturday of September. This is essentially the Valentine’s Day of Colombia. In this country, the “secret friend” is a very popular tradition, which involves designating each participant as a recipient of a secret gift.

Thanks to a focused marketing effort, Valentine’s Day has also appeared in Japan and Korea.

In Japan, girls give chocolates to the boys they like, as well as to their friends on this day. But not all chocolates are created equal. There are two types of chocolate that the women give. One is called giri-choco that are quick readymade chocolates that you give to friends and family, or people that you love in a non-romantic way. Giri means obligation, so these chocolates are more of an obligatory gift for loved ones to show that you care. The other kind are honmei-choco. Honmei-choco are given to the guys that girls are truly romantically interested in, or their romantic partners. These chocolates are usually either fancier, more expensive, or homemade.

Valentine’s Day in Korea is a bit different from Valentine’s Day elsewhere in the world. In fact, Valentine’s Day has now become just one of 12 “love days” celebrated on the 14th of every month in Korea. These days range from the popular (White Day, March 14) and depressing (Black Day, April 14), to the bizarre (Hug Day, December 14) and everything in between. A lot of money is both spent and made on Valentine’s Day and White Day, while the other love days receive little commercial attention.

On White Day in both South Korea and Japan, the men are expected to return the favor to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day. In the past, the return gift was a meringue or white chocolate in Japan and white candy in Korea, hence the name White Day. But now lingerie has also become a very common gift.

The Chinese also celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14. In addition, China has its own version of Valentine’s

Perhaps the most romantic and endearing of Chinese lovers’ traditions is the Qixi, or Double Seven Festival, that has been celebrated since the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 B.C.). Qixi is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is in August of the Gregorian calendar. This day is known as Chilseok in Korea.

Legend has it that a god and a goddess fell in love against the wishes of the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Queen Mother. It is a love story between Zhinü (a weaver girl, symbolizing the star Vega) and Niulang (a cowherd, symbolizing the star Altair). Their love was not allowed, so they were banished to opposite sides of the Silver River (symbolizing the Milky Way). Zhinü fell in love with Niulang, and they got married without the knowledge of the Heavenly Queen Mother. Niulang and Zhinü lived a happy life together. Niulang worked in the fields while Zhinü did weaving at home. As the years passed, they had two children, one boy and one girl. As with many legends, there are many variations of this story. Niulang and Zhinü are known as Jik-nyeo and Gyeon-u in the Korean version of this love story.

Red hearts, pink bows, candies wrapped in purple, angels hanging between fluffy and blue clouds, love statements, and other “sweet and cute” events are just some of the elements of modern Valentine’s Day. Every February, on the 14th, Valentine’s Day is celebrated with great pomp, and the “holiday” has become a very clear landmark on the twisted map of consumer habits, borne of pagan beliefs, Christian virtue, and legendary lure.

Compiled by Melline Galani.

CrestinOrtodox.ro. (2012, February 2). Sfantul Valentin: Sarbatoarea Roz. https://www.crestinortodox.ro/reportaj/sfantul-valentin sarbatoarea-roz-72309.html Critic Arad. (2020, February 14). Sfantul Valentin. https://criticarad. ro/sfantul-valentin-intre-semnificatii-crestine-legende-populare-si -implant-comercial/ Evans, L. (n.d.). Saints of Terni. Key to Umbria http://www. keytoumbria.com/Terni/St_Valentine.html Ketchell, M. (2017, January 5). How St. Dwynwen wrongly became known as the Welsh Valentine. The Conversation. https://the conversation.com/how-st-dwynwen-wrongly-became-known-as the-welsh-valentine-71520 Scapin, L. (2013, February 14). The message of St. Valentine is in the power of love. Episcopia Romano-Catolica de Iasi. http://ercis.ro/ actualitate/viata201302.asp?id=20130258 Travel China Guide. (2020, June 23). How many Valentine’s Days are there in China? Amazingly three! https://www.travelchinaguide. com/essential/holidays/chinese-valentines-day.htm Umoh, V. (2019, February 13). A day with Saint Valentine of Rome: Patron of young couples. Vu Biblia Academia. https:// valentineumoh.com/2019/02/13/a-day-with-saint-valentine-of rome-patron-of-young-couples/

By Emmanuela Sabatini

Winter has come and it has been snowing in Gwangju! I am so glad to experience my fi rst snowfall in Gwangju. I never thought that Gwangju would have such heavy amounts of snow. Since the end of December 2020, I have been able to see a lot of snow in Gwangju. Th is is an opportunity that I could not aff ord to miss because we do not know what will happen in the future. Th is was the reason I started my snow photo journeys at local universities in Gwangju. I met a snowman at every university. Th e snow-covered ground looks so white, but the sunlight gave a color gradation to it that was so pretty. I am enjoying the snow in Gwangju, even though it is actually hard for me to bear the cold weather.

Emmanuela Sabatini is originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. She did an internship at the Gwangju International Center from September to December 2020. You can follow her life journey at www. emmasabatini.com. Instagram: @emmasabatini

By William Urbanski

One of the freshest and most surprising fashion brands to be making inroads into the Korean market lately is Mark Gonzales. The brand, which takes its namesake from professional skateboarder Mark Gonzales, seems to be focused on producing lifestyle (or some may say “streetstyle”) clothes that feature his autograph and cartoon bird logo. Many eponymous brands like Versace or Christian Dior invoke a certain sophisticated elegance or mystique – words that definitely do not pop into my head when I think about “the Gonz.” While a household name in the skateboard world, he is still relatively unknown in the mainstream, which is why it is time to pull back the curtains and find out who Mark Gonzales really is.

When people think of skateboarding, there are usually two names that spring to mind: Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen. No doubt, the familiarity of these names comes from the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game franchise and to some degree Mullen’s unfortunate TED Talk with around two million views. Tony Hawk is, without question, skateboarding’s ambassador to the world and the most well-recognized skateboarder ever. Rodney Mullen is a tad bit more “underground” than Tony Hawk and made a name for himself first through the freestyle contest circuit in the 1980s and later through his incredible technical skateboarding. In addition to their sidewalk surfing prowess, both Hawk and Mullen are also surprisingly articulate business owners. Besides these two men, there are a handful of other skateboarders whose names have entered the mainstream, such as Daewon Song (who is a hero in Korea) and Ryan Sheckler (whose MTV show Life of Ryan earned him the moniker “Cryin’ Ryan”), but nowhere near the level of Hawk and Mullen.

While Mark Gonzales (the man, not the brand) is often overlooked or unknown to the mainstream, he is truly the godfather of modern street skateboarding, and the impact he has had cannot be overstated. When you see skateboarders cruising down the street, flipping their board down stairs or jumping over garbage cans, you basically have Mark Gonzales to thank (or curse, if you happen to be a cantankerous old buzzard). While Gonzales did not “invent” as many tricks as Mullen or Hawk, his creativity and approach to street skateboarding were unlike anything anyone had seen before. In the ’80s, when most “street skaters” were content doing handstands and pirouettes, Gonzales was sliding down handrails and jumping over gaps that were unthinkable at the time and still hold up today. At least one professional skateboarder claimed that seeing Mark Gonzales for the first time was like watching an alien. Truly, if there were a Mt. Rushmore of skateboarding, Gonzales’ weird head would be on it.

In the early ’80s, when modern skateboarding emerged from the terrible, banana board-riding, soul-cruising ’70s, there were basically two “disciplines” – transition (including vert ramps and pools) and freestyle. Basically, everyone has seen or is familiar with pool skateboarding and vert ramps, the massive, elongated “U” shaped structures that skaters use to fly into the air. Much less well known, but perhaps equally impressive in its own right, is freestyle skateboarding, in which skateboarders used smaller, skinnier boards to perform routines

▲ Even well past his prime, Gonzales still skates and is still quite a weird fellow.

involving flipping and standing on their boards on flat ground. Hawk and Mullen were each masters of these two domains. As vert and pool skating slowly died out (mainly because it was difficult to find and even more difficult to build and maintain a vert ramp) and freestyle skaters started suffering from unrelenting ridicule for dressing like sissies, there was a void to be filled by “street skating.” While a talented vert skater in his own right, street skateboarding is where the Gonz was, as the youngins say today, an industry disruptor.

Without getting into trick names and skateboarding terminology, what set Gonzales apart was the way he was able to make use of the whole spectrum of everyday objects, including stairs, ledges, benches, and rails spontaneously and intuitively in a way that made them look like they were specifically designed for skateboarding.

Mark Gonzales was basically the right person doing the right thing at the right time and pretty much the entire skateboard industry fell in love with him. To this day, to speak ill of him or his skateboarding is tantamount to heresy. Fortunately for me, I do like his skateboarding in addition to appreciating the impact he has had.

On top of his influence as a skater, in terms of securing sponsorship deals, endorsements, and career longevity, the Gonz’s success as a professional skateboarder is undeniable. He has ridden for the biggest companies in skateboarding and has been part of the Adidas skateboard team since before huge corporate brands being involved in skateboarding was even a thing. What is also undeniable is that Mark Gonzales is a very strange dude. Not necessarily weird in a bad way, but let us just say you would not confuse him for a Rhodes Scholar.

While raw talent and guts are the prerequisites to a career as a pro skater, what is less understood is that any prospective pro needs to possess an “x-factor”: a certain “je ne sais quoi” that sets himself apart from the rest. For Mark Gonzales, this x-factor was his art projects and, especially toward the end of his career in earnest, he was well known for the funky pictures he would produce. Now, full discretion: I know next to nothing about art or the art world. That being said, I really do not see what was so special about his wild doodles, and his art is the point where my interest in and appreciation for his talents come to a screeching halt.

Given how important a figure he is in the skateboard world, it is interesting to speculate as to why, until quite recently, Gonzales never had the mainstream appeal of Hawk or Mullen. I am sure there are myriad reasons, but my hunch is that for many years nobody was going to ever back this guy because he comes off as a complete lunatic. Just go on YouTube and listen to the super weird way he talks for 30 seconds. Everything he says is like an imitation of someone else’s voice and he is constantly muttering nonsense. Entertaining for sure, but not exactly fodder for a sophisticated audience.

The other, less obvious reason has to do with the insular nature of skateboarding. Even though skateboarding is more common and accepted now than ever before, it is still, as a poet such as Walt Whitman might say, “a river with strong currents of counter-culture and a rejection of mainstream values.” These sentiments were even stronger throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and success as a skateboarder, especially as a “street skater,” meant embodying this recalcitrant attitude. That is to say, the very factors required to have a successful pro skateboarding career precluded fitting into the view of what was acceptable to the mainstream. It was either you were a skater or a tool of corporatist society: There was no either/or. In short, there was no way for the Gonzales of yesteryear to front a major corporate brand without compromising his legitimacy as a skater.

But the Gonzales of today is a Gonzales that is far, far past his prime. He is being marketed as more of an artist (which he ain’t) and less as a former pro. Remember that opening a business on this scale is not just a bunch of bros who chip in a few bucks each: It requires massive cash injections and nobody is going to put up that kind of cash to back someone if he is just too weird. Gonzales “the skateboarder” would have been toxic from a large-scale

▲ Photo by Lukas Bato, Unsplash.

marketing standpoint, but Gonzales the artist who used to be a pro skateboarder is just edgy and cool enough. In short, Gonzales was and is such an “out there” character that until there was enough time between him and his skateboard career, he just was not a good candidate for mainstream appeal.

I was actually quite surprised when I fi rst learned that this brand has not only a Korean website but also a couple of brick-and-mortar stores in Seoul. Upon further refl ection, I think Mark Gonzales might just be a good fi t for the Korean market. It is weird without being off ensive. Th is innocuous image is key where grown men regularly send emojis of teddy bears holding hearts to their girlfriends. As for the actual clothing, besides being a little more colorful and zany than the standard T-shirts you would fi nd at Big 10, I do not see what the brand is doing to really innovate, but then again, while having impeccable taste in clothing, I am no fashionista.

So, now you know a little about the man, the myth, and the soulless corporate entity that is using his name for a fast buck. All that being said, I think it is a cool brand, and I have schemes in the near future that involve dishing out some serious won on some shirts with cartoon birds on them. While some may criticize me for describing Mark Gonzales as an insipid corporate trademark while simultaneously backing his brand, I would refer them to Walt Whitman’s famous quote: “If I contradict myself, so be it. I contain multitudes.”

William Urbanski is the Gwangju News’ managing editor and its special skateboarding correspondent. Instagram: @will_il_gatto

Gonzales managed to stay relevant throughout his career through a mixture of innovation and brilliant trick selection.

By Stephen Kagarise

Imagine a cozy yet spacious-sized cube and step inside. Above you, a green metal overpass blocks the snow wind, and rain, while it thrums with the murmur of cars. Square rubber mats of dark green cushion your feet. Set the cube in a cathedral of trees beside a bus stop. A stained-glass mosaic of overarching foliage shimmers in the midday sun. As you swing your arms back to front after each set of chin-ups bathe in the soft green luminescence.

Stephen Kagarise has been living in Gwangju for the past eight years. Dansa Park was once a stop-off on many of his long walks. It had a fully stocked exercise area, but also tables and benches where older people could sit and chat, space for dogs to run and play, and a narrow band of almost wildlike greenery in the gap between two overpasses. Email: stephen.kagarise@gmail.com

By Muthukumar Elangovan

Never before the whole world turned Upside down when we all mourned For the tolls Of lost souls In the fight against COVID-19. That’s most of last year’s scene!

We took steps that are giants’, With an alliance of modern science. Lot’s learned, That’s earned, And contrived a swift vaccine To break the shackles of quarantine!

This New Year’s not bringing an end. But it’s the beginning of descent Down steep hill. With strong will And bold smile upon despair, I wish you a safe New Year!

Muthukumar Elangovan is a molecular biologist at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). He’s a naturalist, loves reading non-fiction books, and writes poetry, short stories, and about other topics on his blog. Email: pentomuthu@ gmail.com