Birthdays. A very timely topic, considering that I just celebrated one. In my family, birthdays have always been bigger than Christmas - many people celebrate Christmas, but my birthday is, well, mine. While I rationally know that there are others who share my birth-date, and lists of celebrities are published regularly, I still have the proud feeling that my birth-day is my own.
The typical German greeting, "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag," literally meaning "wishing you everything good on your birthday," is best translated to "Best wishes on your birthday." In recent years, though, the phrase "Happy Birthday" has been accepted into other cultures and languages. On German Internet sites, I find that at least half of the selection for online greeting cards is an English-language, "Happy Birthday" greeting. Of course, there is the odd phonetic version of how "Happy Birthday" would be spelled in the way it is pronounced in German ("Happi Boersday" is one variation); while this was common a few years ago, the German-phonetic version is now difficult to find, and the typical English-language spelling is now prevalent.
There is one big difference, in the timing of congratulating the birthday-boy or birthday-girl. For example, if my birthday were to fall on a Saturday, my German colleagues would either send an e-mail on the actual day, or wait until they returned to work the following Monday. In Germany, wishing someone a happy birthday prior to the actual, momentous day, means bad luck, so everyone is careful to make sure that they do not send greetings too early. It is better to be fashionably late.
In the US, my colleagues would wish me a happy birthday on Friday, before I left for the weekend. Late is apparently bad....although, I have to admit, on some Internet sites, the belated birthday cards are funnier than the "regular" cards. I have explained the German tradition to colleagues in the US, and while they understand that early wishes are not a good omen, three hours later on the same hypothetical Friday, one day prior to the actual day, they will still congratulate me.
I have since decided to accept the message, considering the messenger. If someone from the US wishes me a Happy Birthday early, that is attentive. If someone from Germany does it, I worry. One colleague just told me on the phone that she had waited until it was definitely my birth-date in my own time zone before she sent me a greeting. That's a good vibe!
Of course, I was born in the German time zone, at 2:50 am. Meaning that in the US, I would have been born on the prior day (in the Pacific time zone) at 5:50 pm. But - a date is a date, or so my license tells me.
At any rate: Happy Birthday to Me ;) (and this is not posted too early!!)
*Birgit
p.s. I still opened the champagne a day early, with the excuse of the time zone calculation. And by the way...in the US, the party would have started the evening of the birthday. A common German tradition is to celebrate "into" a birthday, starting the day before and going past midnight to initiate the birth-date, is often part of the celebration. Cheers.
The typical German greeting, "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag," literally meaning "wishing you everything good on your birthday," is best translated to "Best wishes on your birthday." In recent years, though, the phrase "Happy Birthday" has been accepted into other cultures and languages. On German Internet sites, I find that at least half of the selection for online greeting cards is an English-language, "Happy Birthday" greeting. Of course, there is the odd phonetic version of how "Happy Birthday" would be spelled in the way it is pronounced in German ("Happi Boersday" is one variation); while this was common a few years ago, the German-phonetic version is now difficult to find, and the typical English-language spelling is now prevalent.
There is one big difference, in the timing of congratulating the birthday-boy or birthday-girl. For example, if my birthday were to fall on a Saturday, my German colleagues would either send an e-mail on the actual day, or wait until they returned to work the following Monday. In Germany, wishing someone a happy birthday prior to the actual, momentous day, means bad luck, so everyone is careful to make sure that they do not send greetings too early. It is better to be fashionably late.
In the US, my colleagues would wish me a happy birthday on Friday, before I left for the weekend. Late is apparently bad....although, I have to admit, on some Internet sites, the belated birthday cards are funnier than the "regular" cards. I have explained the German tradition to colleagues in the US, and while they understand that early wishes are not a good omen, three hours later on the same hypothetical Friday, one day prior to the actual day, they will still congratulate me.
I have since decided to accept the message, considering the messenger. If someone from the US wishes me a Happy Birthday early, that is attentive. If someone from Germany does it, I worry. One colleague just told me on the phone that she had waited until it was definitely my birth-date in my own time zone before she sent me a greeting. That's a good vibe!
Of course, I was born in the German time zone, at 2:50 am. Meaning that in the US, I would have been born on the prior day (in the Pacific time zone) at 5:50 pm. But - a date is a date, or so my license tells me.
At any rate: Happy Birthday to Me ;) (and this is not posted too early!!)
*Birgit
p.s. I still opened the champagne a day early, with the excuse of the time zone calculation. And by the way...in the US, the party would have started the evening of the birthday. A common German tradition is to celebrate "into" a birthday, starting the day before and going past midnight to initiate the birth-date, is often part of the celebration. Cheers.
posted by Birgit Starmanns @ 6:28 PM
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