Koreans measure age differently than we do in the west. I knew part of the system but not the whole picture. When you are born in Korea, you are one year old. They count everything from conception (even though that's only 9 months) so that means when I arrived, I was 26 back home but 27 here. The other part that I didn't know about is that everyone becomes a year older on New years day so even though I won't be 27 back home until April 21st of this year, I just turned 28 here in Korea. Another kind of fun example...my niece, Olivia, was born 12 days ago on December 20th. In the US, she is 12 days old, but in Korea, she's 2 YEARS old. On December 20th, she was 1 year old, and now it's new years so she's a year older.
It's kind of crazy. I'm not a big fan of it. haha. Students always ask what your Korean age is, and now I have to tell them I'm 28. When I leave, I'll be 29. I definitely can't stay another year after my next contract because then I'll be 30 in Korea when I'm only 28! I'm not ready for that ;)
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hah. i find this hilarious. i would be distressed as well... 22 seems so old to me. but then i think "jeff will be thirty in a little over 3 years" and then i feel better. :)
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