Thank goodness I survived another Valentine’s Day without succumbing to a hysterical bout of love-madness. I didn’t construct a home made bow and set of arrows, and I didn’t stalk through Tokyo trying to make people fall in love by loosing arrows at them. Nor did I run naked through the streets holding a “Kiss me, it’s Valentine’s Day!” sign.
Perhaps these expressions of love-madness were exactly the things that authorities in Cambodia were concerned about.
The Cambodian government views Valentine’s Day as a dangerous foreign custom, and warned its citizens “not to lose their dignity” on February 14th. The Education Ministry ordered schools to “take measures to prevent inappropriate activities on Valentine’s Day.”
My Valentine’s day was very dignified. I bought a chocolate éclair for myself from 7 – 11 and ate it in thoughtful silence.
I hope that the love-madness didn’t affect
you, either.
Vocabulary:
to succumb to something – to fail to resist
some pressure, temptation, disease, or negative force
[eg., I am supposed to be on a diet. But I succumbed to temptation and ate a
doughnut.]
a bout of (illness) – a period of (illness)
[eg., I took a week off work due to a bout of influenza.]
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