If Valentine’s Day gives you a heavy heart instead of a heart-warming glow, try moving to South Korea!
On 14th February, women give chocolate to men as a sign of affection and all their loved ones have to do is say thank you (감사합니다 or gamsahamnida in Korean).
But the tables are turned on 14th March – known as White Day in South Korea – when men are expected to generally reciprocate with a white-coloured gift such as chocolate or lingerie.
Even worse for men on White Day is that some people follow the so-called ‘rule of three’ which stipulates that the man’s gift must be roughly three times the value of the gift received on 14th February.
In fact, for the Valentine’s Day-averse, South Korea might just be your kind of hell. Koreans have a special ‘love day’ on the 14th of every month of the year.
They are: Black Day (April) when singletons eat black noodles (Jjayangmyeon) with other single friends, Rose Day (May), Kiss Day (June), Silver Day (July), Green Day (August), Photo Day (September), Wine Day (October), Movie Day (November), Hug Day (December) and Diary Day (January).