EY Y03 L26 Birthdays

  1. When is your birthday? What season were you born in? Do you like the time of year that your birthday falls or do you wish you had been born at a different time of year?
  2. How do people in your country typically celebrate birthdays? Is this how you usually celebrate your birthday? Why?
  3. How did you celebrate your last birthday? Who did you celebrate it with? What did you do? What did you eat? If you don’t celebrate your birthday, tell us about the last party you attended. What was the party for?
  4. What was the best birthday present you ever received? Which birthday was it for? Who was it from? Do you still have the present? If you don’t celebrate your birthday, tell us about the best gift you ever received. What was the occasion?
  5. In Japan, you are legally considered an adult once you become 20 years old. How did you celebrate turning 20? Did you do anything special to mark the occasion? If you haven’t turned 20 yet, how do you plan to celebrate that milestone?
  6. In Japan, special significance is placed on a person’s 60th birthday, known as kanreki. There are many customs observed during such celebrations. Tell us about one of them and why it is a part of kanreki.

Question 1

My birthday is in August. I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, which means that it's always summer. I generally don't like hot weather, which is one of the reasons why I decided to move to other countries.

Question 2

There are so many ways that people of different classes celebrate their birthdays in Indonesia. It can be as simple as going to McDonald's with family and friends or, in my case, having an event with my school friends and cousins where everyone participates in a series of games.

Question 3

I celebrated my last birthday by going to Ritz Carlton with some friends. There's an amazing Italian restaurant called La Locanda - that's where I decided to celebrate my birthday this year. I also went to the Kashihara Kintetsu department store's beer garden with Kamille先生 and Yuki from EP! We had samgyeopsal and I smelled like BBQ smoke after hours of eating and chatting!

Question 4

It's really hard to choose one specific gift that I've received since they all have different impacts. I also think that not all gifts are tangible. One present that I still "keep" until today is the memory of a birthday surprise that my best friend gave me 6 years ago. There were about 10 people that gathered to celebrate my birthday and I had no idea that they were coming. I was touched and it's definitely one of the best birthday memories that I have.

Question 5

I believe I had a big birthday dinner with my friends and extended family. We had lots of meat and pizza. I also went to Singapore to shop with my mom while enjoying the beautiful view of Marina Bay Sands.

Question 6

I heard that the cake that people eat to celebrate kanreki should be decorated with two animals - cranes and turtles. They represent long life and endurance. The color red seems to also be associated with one's 60th year birthday.

Tough Vocabulary