This is probably my favorite holiday (aside from Christmas, obviously) and I think it's just about the most wonderful thing to take a day to celebrate love. In my musings on the subject, I found myself wondering what I would do if I was celebrating the holiday in England. I did a little research, and although the English celebrate with the usual flowers, chocolates, and greeting cards, there are a few especially-English traditions for honoring St. Valentine:
- Writing quixotic lyrics, poems, sonnets, etc.
- Sharing love songs with other people (okay, we do this too, but they reward love songs with treats!)
- Single girls will wake up early in the morning and stand by the window to watch people outside. A long-existing belief holds that the first man she sees on V-day is meant for her! (Wish I had known this this morning!)
- Thanks to Geoff Chaucer, February 14th is believed to mark the first day of birds' mating season, so the day is sometimes known as Birds Wedding Day. The English celebrate by eating baked buns topped with caraway seeds, raisins, and plums.
Unfortunately for Valentine's Day lovers like me, celebration is pretty quiet. Although they do acknowledge the day, people predominantly don't want to be caught purchasing Valentine's cards, or making a big to-do about it. But I suppose I have no reason to complain, as I'm celebrating Valentine's Day here in the U.S., and not in England.
What holidays will be happening in England while I'm there? The only summer holiday I could think of is Independence Day ... but I have this odd feeling that they're not very into it. Maybe they don't like fireworks? (Joke, joke, joke.) Of course, the British have their own holidays and celebrations. This year is a special year for British celebrations because it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee! (Which reminds me of The Great Mouse Detective.) Anyways, it's going to be quite the big deal, and I'm excited to get to experience it! The "Central Weekend" will be June 2-5, and major events will include The Big Jubilee Lunch, a day for everyone to have lunch or picnics or whatever with friends and neighbors; the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which will involve up to 1,000 boats from around the world and the Commonwealth; the BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace; the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons, which will be a network of 2012 lit beacons; and the Service of Thanksgiving and Carriage Procession, which will be a religious service held at St. Paul's followed by a formal carriage procession. Plus, there will be some great exhibitions open during the time that I'm there—diamonds, fancy things belonging to the Queen, lots of Leonardo da Vinci (not sure about the connection there?) ... but it's going to be so cool! So many opportunities to see so many cool things!
All this time, I thought I'd be more excited about the Olympics (and don't get me wrong, I totally am) ... but after reading more about the Jubilee celebrations, I'm really excited for those too! Sure, I'm not a British citizen, but Americans are like the rowdy grandchildren of Britain, right? So I'm legitimately permitted to be excited, aren't I? Even though Queen Elizabeth isn't my queen? It just occurred to me that we'll probably sing "God Save the Queen" in church that weekend. I'm excited for that. Regardless, it will be a great time to get my participant-observation skills on ... especially the participation part! :)
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