Happy birthday(s)
in taiwan, the concept of time is somewhat screwed up. you'ld think it was as straight forward as february follows march and 2003 preceeds 2004. but no, that would be too easy.
for one, taiwan has its own year count. when the qing dynasty was overturned in 1911, we saw the first year of the republic. the nationalists then brought their counting with them to taiwan. in other words, we are now in 93 (2004 - 1911 = 93). i was born in 49. this counting is still very much alive, in chinese. in english, the standard calendar is used. i have even had forms rejected at a local bank because i wrote 1998 instead of year 87 of the republic.
but that's a minor issue. it's when you get to people's age that things are getting interesting. first of all, i'm 43 in sweden and anywhere else in the west and most other places. here in taiwan, i'm 45. since i'm turning 44 later this year, i'm simply 44 right now, since we've already passed the lunar new year. why bother with a few months more or less. then, since i'm a year old at birth, another year is added. so, 45.
then there is the lunar calendar, which is also very much alive. many people still celebrate their birthday according to that calendar, and make ancestral offerings, open up businesses, hold groundbreaking ceremonies, arrange funerals, weddings and engagements and much more according to the auspicious dates in the lunar calendar. lady d, for example, has three birthdays. she was born on the eleventh day of the eleventh lunar month. the year she was born, that day fell on november 30, so at least she got he month right. she was born at home, however, and her folks didn't get around registering her birth until january 5 the next year, so in all official documentation, that's her date of birth. three birthdays - eleventh day of the eleventh lunar month, november 30, january 5. pick and choose.
we celebrate her real birthday, november 30, but her family sometimes forget that, and celebrate her other real birthday, the eleventh day of the eleventh lunar month. which of course varies from year to year, sometimes with a couple of weeks — you never know when they'll come knocking on the door. my folks back home sometimes forget about all this and celebrate her on the date in her passport, january 5. what a mess.
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