[CSM]

“It’s a big deal in Romania. My fiancé is Romanian, and it’s one holiday I make sure I don’t forget.”

I’m actually pretty surprised to hear that. When I researched “International Women’s Day” it appeared to be pretty marxist to me. I would think that Romania would recognize such things pretty easily.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Yeah, that's exactly why it makes sense that they would celebrate it so much. It was an official holiday in the Soviet Union since the time of Lenin, so it makes sense it was celebrated in Romania from the 1940s through 1989. Once communism fell, there were more important things to worry about than whether they should cancel a holiday where you give your wife, girlfriend, or mother flowers.

The same way most Americans have no awareness of how Labor Day started, Romanians don't think about why they have a day where they give women flowers and show them appreciation.

Romanians are pretty big on days for giving gifts and flowers, particularly for women. They celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th like most of the world, but then they have their own version on February 24th (Dragobete). Then they have Martisor on March 1st where women are given special little tokens to wear. Then March 8th is Woman's day.

Any excuse to give gifts and be merry.