I’ve posted a few years ago about how Koreans eat “seaweed soup” to celebrate their birthdays. My husband’s was born on the 2nd day of the 3rd month of the lunar calendar. So the date on the solar calendar is different every year. This year, it falls on April 4th. His sister was born on the 29th day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar – or April 2nd this year. His sister’s daughter was born on April 1st of the solar calendar so her birthday is always on April 1st. So last Saturday, we all gathered at his sister’s house to have a “cake party”.
Isn’t it confusing that some Koreans, especially the oldies, use the lunar calendar for their birthdays while others use the solar calendar? My mother would always send birthday greetings to my husband before March 2nd. I often have to remind her that his birthday is of the lunar calendar.
As a daughter-in-law, it’s also my responsibility to mark all the important dates in the calendar. I often forget whose birthday is based on the lunar or solar calendars. Luckily, we use a calendar that has both solar and lunar days.
So what am I going to give my husband on his special day? Well, he really wants to have a nice telescope and he also dreams of having an RV. The latter would be quite impossible for me to get unless I win the lottery, but I could always get an rv insurance quote online ;p So I guess I’ll just let him have the telescope!
Happy birthday, Ryan!
i watched Playful Kiss recently and I’m not sure if the subtitles are correct or not but it seems that Koreans count their age a different way? like in the series, Oh Ha Ni is 18 years old in Korean age but it’s actually 21 years old…can someone please explain that?
Hi Cathie! Koreans count their age from the time the mom is pregnant. So if you’re biologically 17, in Korea you’re 18.