Also Your Age

Apparently I'm 26 in China. Didn't realize the plane ride was that long. Har har.

The explanation is that when you are born here, you are considered to be 1, not 0, as in the West. Then, due to the position of my birthday (Dec. 18, 1980) in consideration of the lunar calendar, I get yet another year in there. In the end, I'm 26. Well into my mid-twenties. Ah!

This revelation has altered my view of many of my students. I thought my college students all seemed a bit old to be freshmen, and my teenagers a little underdeveloped for their supposed ages. But the biggest shock is my class of what I thought were 5 & 6 year olds, which now I realize could be as young as 3 or 4. Can you imagine learning a second language at that young of an age? Well, they are not learning much, the book we are using is way over their heads and the director of my school has told me not to worry about keeping on schedule with the tykes, but just to cover what I can.

Ah! 26!