With Valentine’s Day upon us, sweethearts are making plans and gifts are being purchased. But not everyone in the world celebrates Valentine’s Day like Americans do.

In the United States, flowers, chocolate and dinner are a focus of Feb. 14.

The focus is on women, who receive gifts from men. Though, with the movement away from traditional gender roles, many women give gifts as well.

In other countries, different traditions are in place.

Amit Rajkarnikar, a junior bi­ology major Nepali student cur­rently living in Monroe, finds the traditions here very different from back home.

“Parents in Nepal are tradi­tional and are usually against ex­pressions of love in young [high school age] people,” Rajkarnikar said.

However, college students in Nepal are more independent.

“I know of a college in Nepal that has a poetry and love letter contest,” Satish Dahal, a sopho­more biology major currently living in Monroe, said.

Not all countries are as con­servative in their Valentine’s Day traditions. In Japan, a com­pletely different way to celebrate exists.

On Feb. 14, girls give choco­late to boys, friends and family. There are two different types of chocolate: Giri-Choco, which is given to friends, co-workers and family, and Honmei-Choco, higher quality, sometimes home­made, chocolate for a sweetheart or close family member. And on Mar. 14, White Day, those who received chocolate give the girls a gift.

Medy Blankvoort, a freshman history major from Amsterdam, said the Netherlands is also a completely different story. There is not nearly as much of a focus on Valentine’s Day.

“It’s there, but it’s not as big as here. I even forgot about it last year,” Blankvoort said.