It Ain't Nothin But A Number

Another Korean tradition that I am trying to come to terms with is the combination of birthday, age, and the Lunar New Year. For a culture that seems so precise and very strong in the mathematical and science realms, this one really confused me.
I have constantly told my friends and family member that age really ain't nothing but a number. However the way they do things here it really isn't just a number, it is several numbers. Let me break it down for you...
Koreans do not start from 0 to 1 in their first year of life. They prefer to start at 1 on the day of birth. Therefore, if you ask a student how old they are, they pause for a minute and often times will ask, "Do you mean my Korean age or my American age?" That is difficult enough but now we come to an entirely different issue which is age at Lunar New Year. Apparently all Koreans turn a year older at Lunar New Year. Then when their actual birthday comes around they subtract a number for the remainder of the year on the Lunar calendar. Confused yet? Yeah me too.
So for the argument here we go.. I am currently 36 years old.
Someone born just a few weeks before me, in the same month and year here in Korea is 38. When the summer comes and we celebrate our birthdays she will subtract a number and become 37 while I add to mine to become 37. Except in Korean age she would be 38 because at Lunar she would be 39 right now and so on.
So that big 4-0 or whatever you worry about in your life can be added and subtracted at anytime. When I tell you that age ain't nothin' but a number then just believe me. Because here you can pretty much make it up as you go along anyway. And don't worry about reminiscing because wait a few months and you can tell your "younger" self all of the knowledge you learned in the time you spent being older and wiser.
It makes 2012, the end of the world as we know it, and all that jazz pretty unpredictable really. So next time someone asks you how old you are...ask em if they want to know your Korean age or American age. At least you can get a laugh out of their look of confusion.
That's all for my math lesson today friends.