Beth Salerno

Birthdays and Celebrations

February 19, 2008 Author: Beth Salerno

Last month I turned 40, this month I turned 39, and I celebrated with 3000 people I had never met before.

Maybe that needs some explaining….

In Korea, age is counted differently than in the United States.  When babies are born they are considered to be one year old.  Everyone ages one year on New Year’s Day.  Therefore a person born in February would be one on the day they are born, 2 the next January 1^st and 3 the following January 1^st (rather than 22 months or 2 years old as we would say in the United States).

Therefore since I was born in 1969 and was thus 1, I became 40 in Korean years on New Year’s Day 2008. 

In U.S. years, I turned 39 on my birthday this month.  Having already turned 40, I feel like I’m getting younger all the time! 

My birthday also happened to be graduation day at Pyeongtaek University.  There were food vendors all over campus, balloons, eight different stands selling bouquets of flowers, roving photographers, and thousands of very happy people.  No one knew it was my birthday, but it was a fine celebration all the same.

Graduations here are different than in the U.S., although I do not know if Pyeongtaek’s is standard for Korea.  The main ceremony looked much more like Saint Anselm’s Honors Convocation the night before graduation.  The top student in each major was given an award, a Presbyterian minister gave a homily, and M.A. and Ph.D. students received their diplomas from the President of the College and their advisors.  I was particularly struck by the nun who received her degree in full habit and full Ph.D. gown, and the band, which played Beautiful Dreamer and It’s a Small World After All, among other more traditional pieces.  The huge screen enabled everyone to see, even from the very back.

After the main ceremony, the ceremonies for the undergraduates took place by major in classrooms and meeting rooms around the University.  Almost every American Studies class is taught in the same classroom, Main Building room 207.  So today we met there for a celebration designed and executed by the students.  A student led us in prayer, we watched a video montage of the students’ four years, and we listened to the class President and each faculty member make a congratulatory speech.  Then the chair of the department handed each graduate a diploma and a gift.  The students walked the “receiving line” of faculty for words of congratulations and encouragement, and the occasional tissue for those whose tears got the better of them.  Sophomores and juniors attended, as did some parents and well-wishers; people signed cards for one another and took lots of pictures.  It was small (22 graduates, 65 people), almost familial (well, if you have a big family).  Even I got a bit choked up - I have really come to like some of the students, and they clearly returned the enthusiasm.

Afterward, I bought myself flowers (three kinds of orchids) and cake.  I ate a fine meal and opened paper and electronic cards (kudos to Aunt Anna who got a paper card to arrive here exactly today!).   Earlier my husband and parents had sung me happy birthday in separate phone calls.  

All in all, you couldn’t ask for a better day, surrounded by happy people, good food, and the warm wishes of friends and family.  And it was the first day in two weeks when I could be outside without gloves and a hat without risking frostbite.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

Entry Filed under: University, Culture