Its someone's birthday today. Someone who's special to me🙈 And to whom I'd want to dedicate this book to...but sadly, he doesn't have a wattpad account or even if he does, I'd never get to know. 😅😅 *whispers* he is a celebrity- I'd rather not say his name.

So this chapter will be about words & phrases related to birthdays.

생일 - birthday

축하합니다 / 축하해(요) - congratulations

선물 - gifts/presents

케잌 - cake

생일 축하합니다 / 생일 축하해요 - happy brithday

Let's talk about korean birthdays. First of all, the do celebrate their birthdays a few days or weeks ago if they can't celebrate it on the actual day (busy with something) or any other reason. Its not a taboo unlike some countries.

Some times korean people are unable to get a cake or don't wanna go to get a cake, its such a hassle or they don't have time, they put candles on a tower of lotte choco pie and make the birthday boy/girl blow on it. Its a smaller version of birthday cake haha. (I learnt this information through native koreans)

Talking about age, koreans consider a new born as 1 year old. Since it has already spent 9 months in the mother's womb, they count it as 1 year. So when the baby spends one year after its birth, they consider it as 2 years old.

Therefore you would probably be a year older in korean age.

They also believe that everyone turns a year older on new year...now you'd be thinking "does the whole country celebrates their birthday on the same day?" The answer is NO.

They celebrate it on their actual birth day- its just their age that changes on new year instead of their birthday.

Lolll imagine a kid born on the last day of the year and his age turns 2 the next day- ermm.

미역국 is a sea weed soup traditionally consumed by a mother after giving birth to her child or a pregnant woman bearing a child because its known for being full of iron, iodine and nutrition. Its not delicious...I heard its bitter.

That is why on every birthday, the birthday boy/girl drinks that soup to feel what the mother had to drink for the health of her child despite it being bitter. Its a very important tradition that shouldn't be ignored.

미역 = sea weed

국 = soup

Don't get grossed out by sea weed haha its used to make kimbap. Rice, veggies and meat rolled in seaweed. Google it ;) its a very common korean food.

I could go on about the birthday topic but erm- let's end it with a birthday song.

생일 축하합니다

생일 축하합니다

사랑하는 _____아/야

생일 축하합니다

Vocabulary:

사랑하는 - beloved

fill the ______ with the name

야 would be used if the name ends with a vowel.

아 would be used if the name ends with a consonant.

So today's birthday song would be:

30/12/2020

생일 축하합니다

생일 축하합니다

사랑하는 제 하나 밖에 없는 비밀-아

생일 축하합니다

;) not gonna teach you what I filled the blank with

And a very very formal version of happy birthday wish is 생신 축하들입니다!

That's it. 안녕♡