생일 축하합니다 (saeng-il chuk-ha-ham-ni-da)! Happy birthday! How old are you, and how do you celebrate your birthday? Just as in the United States, birthdays are very significant celebrations in the lives of South Koreans. One of the first and most important questions a Korean will ask is: “How old are you?” Here, a person’s age determines everything, from what they call you to how they speak to you. However, age can also be one of the most confusing parts of a Korean person’s identity. Today, I’m going to tell you about how we celebrate birthdays in South Korea.
Today is my little host brother’s birthday. 생일축하해, 동생 (saeng-il chuk-ha-hae, dong-saeng)! Happy birthday, little sibling! Did you notice that the way I say “happy birthday” here is different from how I say “happy birthday” earlier in this post? This is because my host brother is younger than me, so I speak to him differently than I speak to someone who is my age or older. In fact, there are six different ways to say “happy birthday” in Korean, and they all depend on a person’s age and relationship to you.
Today, we celebrated my host brother’s birthday in the same way that we celebrate birthdays in the United States, with 케이크 (ke-i-keu), or cake, candles, a special dinner and presents. We even sang “Happy Birthday” in Korean!
