A Year Older?!

One of my Korean student visited our house yesterday. Actually, she’s always asking me when she can go in our place. And I told her that she should ask permission first to Mr. Lee. their guardian here in Philippines.  When we got home, I introduced her to my family. My grandmother (from the father side) asked her how old she is. Jessica answered them that she is turning 14 in Korean age. My Granny got confused because she doesn’t know about that thing, so Jessica explained it to them. And they were amazed by how Koreans compute their age. The first time I also heard about it, I also got confused. Because whenever I would ask my students they would always say “My Korean age is…” 

So I did my research about this Korean age thing to fully understand them. And these are what I found…

Going to Korea ages you a year. Really.
The way Koreans count someones age differs from the European/North American system in two ways. Firstly, newborn babies are one year old, not zero. Secondly, everyone gets one year older at the same time, on Lunar New Year (when they eat a special kind of ddeok guk (rice cake soup) that symbolizes getting older), instead of on their birthdays. The first difference is more important, since it means that you must add one to your “Western age” to find your “Korean age,” which is why going to Korea ages you a year.

and sometimes they can also be 2 years older….

Korean Age

 Age plays an integral role in Korean society. Everyone is grouped according to the year they were born. And because everyone is regarded according to the year they were born, Koreans are always asking about age. Also, Koreans count age differently than many other cultures. According to Korean age, sometimes someone can be 2 years older than their actual age.

Confusing, right?!

Today, they’re all a year or two older.

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