Birthday, Cumpleaños, Anniversaire.
As it is my father's birthday today (Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you!), I thought it would be fun to write about birthdays in general. Birthdays are that one special day of the year where you get to celebrate turning another year older. You get the cake, the candles, the presents, and the birthday parties. America isn't the only country that celebrates birthdays with birthday parties. In fact, birthdays are celebrated in several different ways all over the world.
The birthdays are celebrated a little differently from country to country. Gifts and large meals are just a few things that help to celebrate the big day.
In India, the birthday boy or girl wears new clothes. He starts the day by showing respect to his parents by touching their feet. After, the family will visit an alter to pray blessings on the celebrant. In the afternoon, the family will share a meal that consists of a spicy vegetable curry and chutney. The dessert that follows the dinner is a rice pudding known as dudh pakh.
Receiving a present that is wrapped in black and white on your birthday is considered bad luck. Watch out for that striped wrapping paper, for it could provide bad luck for you on your birthday! If celebrating the birthday at school, the student wears a colored dress and shares chocolates with the entire class.
In New Zealand, the Happy Birthday song is sung loudly and often out of tune after the birthday cake is lit. The birthday person receives a clap for each year they've been alive and then one for good luck.
In China, everyone celebrates their birthday on New Years Day, even if that is not their official day of birth. New Years Day is the day that everyone turns another year older.
The Chinese believe that a baby is born one year old. In that case, their child's second birthday is a very important experience. The baby's fortune is told at this time by being placed in the middle of a group of things such as coins, a book, or a book. Whichever object the baby picks up is said to tell what their fortune is. If the child picks up a coin, she might become rich; if she reaches for a book, she might become a teacher; and if she picks up the doll, she might have many children.
It is considered unlucky to give someone a clock as a birthday present. This is because the word for “clock” in Mandarin (the Chinese language) is similar to “death”. There's a legend that Buddha called on all the animals of the kingdom to visit him before he left Earth. Only twelve animals showed up, and he named a year after each one as a reward for their loyalty. The animal that rules the year that you were born is supposedly the influence for your life.
In England, cakes known as Fortune Telling Cakes are made for the birthday. Several types of symbolic objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it is being prepared.
Sending birthday cards is a tradition that began in England about 100 years ago. Now today, millions and millions of cards are sent around the world each year to another to wish friends and family a happy birthday.
Being given the key of the house is an important sign of growing older in England. This is taken place when someone turns twenty-one. A young man who is given the key of the house is said to have the permission to come and go as he wants and stay out as late as he likes.
In Brazil, the candles that are used on the special day are shaped as fruits and vegetables. The children actually eat their birthday candles. The candles are so beautiful that they are actually set aside before eating. While Americans spank their children for every year of their birthday, Brazilians do something similar. Brazilians pull on the earlobes of the birthday celebrant for each year since their birth.
In Holland, birthday years are called “crown” years. The special year birthdays, such as five, ten, fifteen, and twenty, are called "crown" years. The birthday child receives a specially large gift on a crown year birthday. The family of the birthday boy or girl decorates the kid's chair at the dining table with flowers, balloons, and paper streamers. People in Holland hang 'Birthday Calenders' to remind them of the birthdays of all their family and friends. When a Dutch isn't able to visit someone on their special day, a card is sent to wish them well. When visiting a friend at home on their birthday, it is custom to take a bouquet of flowers or candy.
In Nepal, a special mixture of rice, yogurt, and color is placed on the birthday person's forehead fro good luck.
In Nigeria, the first, fifth, tenth, and fifteenth birthdays are considered very special events. On these birthdays, large parties are given which have up to one hundred or more guests.At their birthday parties, the Nigerian children play a game known as Pass the Parcel. Guests pass around the package to music. When the music stops, the person holding the package unwraps a little bit and passes it on. This continues until the last bit of paper is taken off the prize.
In Saudi Arabia, birthdays are not celebrated due to spiritual beliefs. Religious holidays and weddings, however, are occasions held for great celebration and rejoicing.
In Vietnam, the Vietnamese do not know or acknowledge the exact day they were born. Children say they were born in the lunar calendar that year.
Birthdays are celebrated in many different ways all over the world. Some ways are familiar to us and are quite similar to American traditions. Knowing different ways people celebrate birthdays is always fun to know, because you learn something new! Maybe we want to start using some of these traditions in the United States. What do you think?
Always, Rebecca
The birthdays are celebrated a little differently from country to country. Gifts and large meals are just a few things that help to celebrate the big day.
In India, the birthday boy or girl wears new clothes. He starts the day by showing respect to his parents by touching their feet. After, the family will visit an alter to pray blessings on the celebrant. In the afternoon, the family will share a meal that consists of a spicy vegetable curry and chutney. The dessert that follows the dinner is a rice pudding known as dudh pakh.
Receiving a present that is wrapped in black and white on your birthday is considered bad luck. Watch out for that striped wrapping paper, for it could provide bad luck for you on your birthday! If celebrating the birthday at school, the student wears a colored dress and shares chocolates with the entire class.
In New Zealand, the Happy Birthday song is sung loudly and often out of tune after the birthday cake is lit. The birthday person receives a clap for each year they've been alive and then one for good luck.
In China, everyone celebrates their birthday on New Years Day, even if that is not their official day of birth. New Years Day is the day that everyone turns another year older.
The Chinese believe that a baby is born one year old. In that case, their child's second birthday is a very important experience. The baby's fortune is told at this time by being placed in the middle of a group of things such as coins, a book, or a book. Whichever object the baby picks up is said to tell what their fortune is. If the child picks up a coin, she might become rich; if she reaches for a book, she might become a teacher; and if she picks up the doll, she might have many children.
It is considered unlucky to give someone a clock as a birthday present. This is because the word for “clock” in Mandarin (the Chinese language) is similar to “death”. There's a legend that Buddha called on all the animals of the kingdom to visit him before he left Earth. Only twelve animals showed up, and he named a year after each one as a reward for their loyalty. The animal that rules the year that you were born is supposedly the influence for your life.
In England, cakes known as Fortune Telling Cakes are made for the birthday. Several types of symbolic objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it is being prepared.Sending birthday cards is a tradition that began in England about 100 years ago. Now today, millions and millions of cards are sent around the world each year to another to wish friends and family a happy birthday.
Being given the key of the house is an important sign of growing older in England. This is taken place when someone turns twenty-one. A young man who is given the key of the house is said to have the permission to come and go as he wants and stay out as late as he likes.
In Brazil, the candles that are used on the special day are shaped as fruits and vegetables. The children actually eat their birthday candles. The candles are so beautiful that they are actually set aside before eating. While Americans spank their children for every year of their birthday, Brazilians do something similar. Brazilians pull on the earlobes of the birthday celebrant for each year since their birth.
In Holland, birthday years are called “crown” years. The special year birthdays, such as five, ten, fifteen, and twenty, are called "crown" years. The birthday child receives a specially large gift on a crown year birthday. The family of the birthday boy or girl decorates the kid's chair at the dining table with flowers, balloons, and paper streamers. People in Holland hang 'Birthday Calenders' to remind them of the birthdays of all their family and friends. When a Dutch isn't able to visit someone on their special day, a card is sent to wish them well. When visiting a friend at home on their birthday, it is custom to take a bouquet of flowers or candy.
In Nepal, a special mixture of rice, yogurt, and color is placed on the birthday person's forehead fro good luck.
In Nigeria, the first, fifth, tenth, and fifteenth birthdays are considered very special events. On these birthdays, large parties are given which have up to one hundred or more guests.At their birthday parties, the Nigerian children play a game known as Pass the Parcel. Guests pass around the package to music. When the music stops, the person holding the package unwraps a little bit and passes it on. This continues until the last bit of paper is taken off the prize.
In Saudi Arabia, birthdays are not celebrated due to spiritual beliefs. Religious holidays and weddings, however, are occasions held for great celebration and rejoicing.
In Vietnam, the Vietnamese do not know or acknowledge the exact day they were born. Children say they were born in the lunar calendar that year.
Birthdays are celebrated in many different ways all over the world. Some ways are familiar to us and are quite similar to American traditions. Knowing different ways people celebrate birthdays is always fun to know, because you learn something new! Maybe we want to start using some of these traditions in the United States. What do you think?
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