Valentine’s Day is proclaimed as a celebration of love, where couples and couples-to-be spend time together and share their affection. But, if you’re single (like me), then you don’t really have a reason to partake in the festivities. Some might spend that day like any other day, without giving Valentine’s Day a thought, while others may despise the holiday for seeming more commercial than genuine. Some who are more envious of romances around them may just mock the lucky couples and complain about their own singleness. With all of these singles and different attitudes on Valentine’s Day, it only makes sense that there is a holiday for singles as well. Enter: Singles Awareness Day, or S.A.D. for short. S.A.D. is the inverse of Valentine’s Day, where singles celebrate their singleness, or just use the unofficial holiday to spite Valentine’s Day. However the U.S. isn’t the only country that has such a holiday.

Korea has an edgy take on S.A.D., where they have adapted it into “Black Day”. Black Day is actually also the foil to another holiday, not just Valentine’s Day. In East Asia, a holiday called “White Day” is celebrated as a way for men to repay their significant other’s affections on Valentine’s Day by giving them a white-colored gift. So while Valentine’s Day is on Feb. 14, White Day is on Mar. 14 and Black Day is on Apr. 14. Black Day is the holiday to go full edgelord, putting on all your black clothes as you mope in your loneliness. The holiday gets its name from the Chinese-style Korean dish, jjajangmyeon, which is basically thick noodles with black bean sauce. The dish is comparable in status to the American burger, as both meals are fast food and commonly comfort food for many people. In fact, it is considered a national food in Korea. Thus, in Korea, it is customary for lonely singles who didn’t get any presents to eat the dish with some other friends as they “celebrate singleness”. 

Now, let’s embark on a journey across the Yellow Sea to a somewhat famous land by the name of China. China has its own variant of S.A.D. called “Singles Day”, but instead of being early in the year like S.A.D. and Black Day, Singles Day is on Nov. 11. The tale goes that the date, 11/11, represents bare sticks, which is supposedly Chinese slang for lonely men without any significant others. To the dismay of critics of the commercial aspect of Valentine’s Day, Singles Day has become the largest shopping holiday in the world, with Alibaba and other Chinese corporations hosting large promotions and sales on and near Nov. 11. Another aspect of Singles Day is the ironic fact that it has become a popular day to get married. This comes from the interpretation that the double 11s in Nov. 11 represents two couples getting together, much to the dismay of many singles, again. 

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