HOT TOPIC 
In the grander scheme of Valentine’s Day around the world, this celebration of love wasn’t always the commercial holiday we celebrate today — nor is it always presently accompanied by the classic American Valentine’s Day traditions of roses, cards, chocolates and inflated prix fixe menu prices.
There are special kinds of inexpensive giri choco, or “obligation chocolate,” that they give to their platonic friends to let them know where they stand.
It’s been a long-standing tradition — and not just once a year — for men to carve intricate spoons for women as a token of their affection.
Take Belgorod, Russia, for example, which banned the holiday because it is designed for commercial purposes and “does not help young people to develop spiritual and moral values.”
Not real ones, maybe just little keepsakes and cartoons. Pigs are considered a symbol of luck in Germany, and they’re just as common in Valentine’s Day displays as cupids are in the States.
