Warm, flowery welcome for Clinton

Abdul Khalik | Thu, 02/19/2009 8:55 AM | Headlines

Mending US ties: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (center) waves as she poses for photos with students from the elementary school where US President Barack Obama studied in his youth, upon her arrival at Halim airport in Jakarta on Wednesday. Clinton arrived in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, on a mission to start mending US ties with the Islamic world.

Local journalists held their breath as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exited a room at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry with her Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda accompanying her.

Wearing a blue blouse, she looked fresh, and her smile never left her face despite the seven-hour nonstop flight from Tokyo.

“She looks more beautiful than on TV,” one female journalist said.

As she began to talk, all minds snapped to what she said.

“I bring greetings from President Obama, who has himself said and written about the importance of his time here as a young boy,” Clinton said. “It gave him an insight into not only this diverse and vibrant culture, but also the capacity for people with different backgrounds to live harmoniously together.”

While a group of protesters outside the US Embassy screamed out “Go home Hillary", her friendly gestures and sweet smile never faded during Wednesday's, putting a more humane face on the US.

A Foreign Ministry official said that as soon as she had arrived at Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in East Jakarta earlier in the afternoon, she shook hands with “almost everyone at the airport, down to the cleaning service staff”.

Among those who welcomed her at the airport were 44 children from Obama's former primary school, singing traditional folk songs and waving Indonesian and US flags. She smiled, stopped and talked to them.

But the merriest welcome she got was at the ASEAN Secretariat, where dozens of employees shouted “Hillary! Hillary!” from the moment she stepped in to meet with ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.

She was welcomed like a heroine, complete with a flower garland given to her before entering the building. Clinton then shook hands with the employees.

Later in the evening, Clinton hosted a dinner with the country's civil society leaders.

­— JP/Abdul Khalik

Warm welcome

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 02/19/2009 11:34 AM | National

Warm welcome: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (right) greets US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, shortly after her arrival at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday. During her first overseas visit as America’s top diplomat, Clinton is expected to revitalize US economic and development ties with Indonesia and Southeast Asia. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

Valentine's Day

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Valentine's Day (disambiguation).

Valentine's Day
Traditional symbols of Valentine's Day include hearts, doves, Cupid and love notes. American postcard, circa 1900.
Also called	St. Valentine's Day
Observed by	Christian and Christian-influenced cultures
Type	Christian, cultural, multinational
Significance	Lovers express their feelings to each other
Date	February 14
Observances	Sending greeting cards and gifts, dating.

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.^[1] The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States.^[2]

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.^[3]