January 1 birthdays
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- Making Khmer girls cry since 2003
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January 1 birthdays
I was cozying up to a hostess at 11:45 p.m. on New Year's Eve and she announced "Tomorrow is my birthday."
About thirty minutes later, I was cozying up to a completely different hostess at a different bar at 12:15 a.m. on January 1, and she announced "Today is my birthday."
After quickly calculating the odds of this in my head, I decided that either: (a) this was a remarkable coincidence, (b) they were each bullshitting me in an effort to get me to buy them ladydrinks , (c) Khmers do a lot of fucking around April 1, or (d) maybe the recordkeeping is so bad in Cambodia that a lot of people celebrate their birthdays on January 1 even though they weren't really born on that day.
I've spent enough time in hostess bars to know that girls generally don't claim that their birthday is tomorrow in order to get lady drinks. So I'm eliminating (b). And (c) doesn't make a lot of sense, especially since it's so damn hot in April. So was the explanation (a) or (d)?
About thirty minutes later, I was cozying up to a completely different hostess at a different bar at 12:15 a.m. on January 1, and she announced "Today is my birthday."
After quickly calculating the odds of this in my head, I decided that either: (a) this was a remarkable coincidence, (b) they were each bullshitting me in an effort to get me to buy them ladydrinks , (c) Khmers do a lot of fucking around April 1, or (d) maybe the recordkeeping is so bad in Cambodia that a lot of people celebrate their birthdays on January 1 even though they weren't really born on that day.
I've spent enough time in hostess bars to know that girls generally don't claim that their birthday is tomorrow in order to get lady drinks. So I'm eliminating (b). And (c) doesn't make a lot of sense, especially since it's so damn hot in April. So was the explanation (a) or (d)?
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D is pretty much the correct answer. I do believe that most Khmer's dispense with Maths and decide that they add a year to their age from the first of January. They are also born 1 year old. So a girl who says she is 18 is probably only 17 in Western terms.
Last edited by bar one on Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Adding to my research, I was in Zanzibar last night (January 2) and the cashier told me "Yesterday we had a birthday party for two staff."
I'd say Zanzibar has about 40 girls working there. So if we use Zanzibar as the barometer, it seems that about 5% of all Khmer women celebrate birthdays on January 1.
I'd say Zanzibar has about 40 girls working there. So if we use Zanzibar as the barometer, it seems that about 5% of all Khmer women celebrate birthdays on January 1.
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It is the most common date for a birthday. My wife's is Feb 1st, and sister who lives with us Sept 1st. Most girls whose birthday I know is the first of the month. Celebrating birthdays is an entirely Western concept and parents tend to be less than hasty informing the local Sangkat when registering a birth (historically it was because of the high infant mortality rate).
That reminds me, when we married my wife swore she was 25. turned out she was 26. She was deeply embarrassed at miscounting for at least 5 years. Actually the simple reason was the point Stewie pointed out in the second post. She still doesn't realise that her belief was perfectly reasonable to this day.
I do wonder how many hapless girls screw up visa applications to Western nations because of this innocent cultural difference.
That reminds me, when we married my wife swore she was 25. turned out she was 26. She was deeply embarrassed at miscounting for at least 5 years. Actually the simple reason was the point Stewie pointed out in the second post. She still doesn't realise that her belief was perfectly reasonable to this day.
I do wonder how many hapless girls screw up visa applications to Western nations because of this innocent cultural difference.
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She's the same one referenced in the first sentence of my original post from two years ago. I am a man of routine.keeping_it_riel wrote:GM
And don't forget the one you were cuddling up to in Nightlife Bar on New Year's Eve last weekend.
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Re birthday parties, staff's birthdays are collected and just one party celebrated for them. So if someone says we had a birthday party for 4 staff members yesterday, all it means is that they waited for four birthdays to pass before throwing a party.
As for the Cambodian way of counting the years, IMO it's completely wrong. Birth is when the baby comes out. It's in the name itself, FCS.
If you want to count those extra nine months inside the womb call it creation day or conception day or parents fucking day.
As for the Cambodian way of counting the years, IMO it's completely wrong. Birth is when the baby comes out. It's in the name itself, FCS.
If you want to count those extra nine months inside the womb call it creation day or conception day or parents fucking day.
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How many girls were there in total in the two bars? If there were 23 there's a 50% chance that two share a birthday.gavinmac wrote:
After quickly calculating the odds of this in my head, I decided that either: (a) this was a remarkable coincidence,
So the 'remarkable coincidence' is that their birthdays fall on January 1st ? Only because it is a culturally significant date to you, which is probably why knowing that they remarked on their birthdays in the first place.
Imagine if the number 24 came up twice in a row at roulette: no big deal. But if it was the number 13: spooky?
You're supposed to know about this stuff.
And they do use this as a hook. There certainly seem to be suspiciously more prostitute birthdays falling in tourist season.
Some years ago in Thailand I took a young lady to my room and after midnight she announced it was her birthday. I feared that she was angling for an excessive tip, and countered with the claim that it was my birthday too. This appeared to unsettle her. Spooky.
I challenged her to prove her birth date and sure enough, she had an ID card indicating that she was born on exactly the same day of the month as I was (20 years later in her case).
It was a standoff but I treated her to a fancy lunch anyway.
I still wonder if she takes a different fake ID card out with her every night.
I wonder if she thinks the same about me.
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I'd like to see how you worked that out.picaroon wrote:How many girls were there in total in the two bars? If there were 23 there's a 50% chance that two share a birthday.gavinmac wrote:
After quickly calculating the odds of this in my head, I decided that either: (a) this was a remarkable coincidence,
I make it about a 6% chance.
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The Birthday ProblemCharlesTubborce wrote:I'd like to see how you worked that out.picaroon wrote:How many girls were there in total in the two bars? If there were 23 there's a 50% chance that two share a birthday.gavinmac wrote:
After quickly calculating the odds of this in my head, I decided that either: (a) this was a remarkable coincidence,
I make it about a 6% chance.
It was new to me too.
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