Laura Easley/The Falcon Valentine’s Day in America often involves buying gifts for significant others, such as flowers, teddy bears or chocolate. Johnny’s Flowers in the University District offers all these items and more around the holiday.

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. It's the day that celebrates all forms of cheesiness, sappiness and mushiness, causes Hallmark card sales to skyrocket and makes hearts flutter in secret expectation. American shop windows are decked out in white, red and pink. Roses are gifted with anticipation and heart-strewn cards are diligently written for loved-ones and sweethearts. But is there a more serious side to the sentimental service of Feb. 14?

Valentine's Day commemorates the life of St. Valentine, a Roman Catholic priest who dedicated his life to keeping love alive, according to http://pictureframes.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm.

The facts of the legend are blurred, but as the story goes, in the third century, Emperor Claudius II, aware that married men didn't want to leave their wives and families to go to war, banned marriage completely. St. Valentine, a believer in love, aided young couples and married them in secret.

After being found out, Valentine was put in jail where he continued his work, and in the process befriended (or fell in love with) the jailer's daughter.

On the day of his execution, Feb. 14, 269, he wrote her a letter, signing it "from your Valentine"--and the line lived on.

"From your Valentine" has wrapped up many a card over the centuries and other such traditions have sprung up to make Valentine's Day what it is now.

Love is universal and is celebrated all over the world in different ways. In America, and many other western countries, the holiday is celebrated by everything from giving a love interest flowers to taking a sweetheart out to a multi-course dinner. Chocolate and other candies have become a huge part of showing love and sending out cards has become an annual ritual.

In Austria and Germany, men go out to buy flowers and gifts for their wives, but in Spain it is the wives who buy gifts for their husbands, according to http://internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/2_melissa.html.

In Wales, according to the Web site, it is customary to make gifts of carved wooden spoons decorated with hearts, locks and keys that symbolize the message "you unlock my heart."

Try this tradition out if you want to surprise your beloved with something slightly out of the ordinary.

Chile turns Valentine's Day into a massive gala, according to http://dgreetings.com, complete with window decorations, a famous smooching competition and big family meals, with desserts such as "mote con huesillo" (a drink made of wheat husk and sun-dried peaches).

However, not all celebrations of romance fall on Feb. 14. "Dia dos Namorados" (or "Day of the enamored") falls on June 12 in Brazil, according to http://web.ku.edu/~brasilis/bhist.html. The traditions, however, remain the same as lovers exchange gifts, chocolate and flowers.

In Romania, the first of March is the day a young woman waits in anticipation as the man traditionally "ties a little bracelet with red and white string, sometimes with a charm at the end" on the woman's wrist to show that she is his, said freshman Tasha Muresan, from Romania.

In Japan and Korea, until very recently, women never received anything on Valentine's Day. Freshman Christina Renick, who grew up in Japan, said it is a day in which girls present store-bought chocolates to men, including bosses, friends and others. These chocolates are termed "giri-choco," which means "obligation chocolate."

For that one special person, however, homemade chocolates called "honmei" (which can be translated as "the true one") are presented.

Though this may not seem very fair to the women, there is a point on the calendar when they are on the receiving end. That day is March 14, also known as "White Day," where men who received things on Valentine's Day give gifts back to the women.

Additionally, due to the American influence, Japanese and Korean women are starting to demand things on Valentine's Day from their special men, though this is still a new idea to these countries.

For all the single men out there, "Black Day" is celebrated on April 14 in South Korea, and slowly spreading in Japan, Renick said. It's a day when those who received or gave nothing go out and eat noodles with black bean sauce to celebrate their singleness, though this day is not taken as seriously.

Another interesting romantic tradition occurs in Taiwan. The number of roses given to a special someone can mean different things. For example, 99 roses are given to mean "forever" because 99 is pronounced "jyou jyou," which sounds like "long long," according to Dwight Johnson, a missionary in Taiwan and the father of sophomore Daniel Johnson.

Coincidentally, alcohol is also pronounced "jyou" and therefore given most often in weddings to signify a long relationship.

Romance is a worldwide tradition, so as you plan out how you are going to celebrate this coming Valentine's Day, "Valentinsdag" (Denmark and Finland), "Alla hjartans dag" ("All Hearts Day," Sweden) or "Sevgililer Gunu" (Turkey), keep in mind that the world is celebrating with you in many diverse ways to honor and commemorate the one thing we all have in common: the ability to love.