From birthdays to children's day and culture contrasts

A conversation on planning how to spend one's birthday spurned a thought on the stark culture contrast.

Culture wise, when it someone's birthday, the celebrant is sort of expected to throw a "bash" or some sort. Well, of course, it could be just a one-dish affair to share with family and friends. And having one that is sometime between Mother's day and Father's day can be tricky. In a span of 30 days, there would be some sort of that kind of "dilemma." Why? hmm...

DD was just pointing that out and mentioned how come there isn't a big Children's Day here. Uhmm..I am not really sure when but I think it's sometime around the 4th quarter of the year. Googled it up, one site mentions Oct 17 (Christian site), another one has Nov. 20 (Universal Children's Day). This is can be confusing. But the reality, there's isn't really much hype to this day in this part of the world.

In comparison to my hubbys home country, it is a big one for the kids. That is something that he always points out. This is what I have to say. It may not be that big here for a day but it is everyday, or culturally.

Case point no. 1. The local culture here is usually in favor of children. Take the simple food serving on a meal. In our culture, the youngest ones are served first and given their choice of share. Perhaps, this is because kids can be very "demanding" at times or it can be quite convenient for the adults to satisfy the wee ones first. But of course, when it is a "really old one," like grandparents, the kids are also taught to honor to get granny's plates filled first. On the other hand, it is an exact opposite with their culture of serving the oldest ones first. Uhmm, I may haven't seen a lot but with my hubby and family, they do point out that older ones gets serve first, as the culture has been. Of course, I do remember some occasion that they chose to forego that culture.

Case point no. 2. My country's population consists of a great number of children. It's quite easy to take that fact for granted. It can even be blamed for the widespread poverty of the nation. Hubby's country has a very limited and dwindling birth rate. No wonder they have to make the Children's Day big. (;-) Although, I do believe there was a story on the importance of that regard.

Kidding aside, there is really a stark contrast on culture between two nations. It takes an utmost care to balance the similarities and differences in order not to start the 3rd World War.