Job Discussion Forums

once again · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 815

My wife has just had her 30th birthday..and it seems to be a milestone as much as it would be in the UK..we are in HK by the way and my wife is originaly from Fujian nin south eastern China...is 30 a milestone in every culture you have been in..including your own..and what do different ages mean in your own and the cultures you have been in? In the UK 18 is very important also..and 30 and 40 and 60..what about where you are from or now live?

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

US

16 can drive

18 can vote and are legally considered and adult

21 can drink legally

25 can rent a car

30 can't do anything but start to feel old. You have 11 months to think of a good present for me.

Cleopatra · Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 4:17 pm Post subject:

I think 30 used to be a major milestone but is less so now.

40 is the new 30!

khmerhit · Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 4:18 pm Post subject:

Cleopatra, you are my darling Clementine!!!!!!!!!
Big Kisses
Khmerhit Razz

johnslat · Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 4:20 pm Post subject: Life begins at . . . .?

Dear Cleopatra,
Ah correction - from MY point of view, 70 is the new 30.
Regards,
Geriatric John

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Almost every year for the past several years has been a milestone in some way for me:

25--no longer part of that coveted 18-24 year old marketing target; car insurance rates go down (although I was living in Prague and didn't have a car at the time...)

26--last year of the mid-20s

27--hello, late 20s

28--nothing special this year

29--my next birthday--CRAP!!!!!! last year of the 20s!!!!!

d

bayabule · Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 82 Location: East Java Indonesia

Oh no! Thanks for bringing that up Sad

I'm going to be 30 in exactly 4 weeks and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I've always hated hearing people whinging about turning 30 but now it's happening to me... eek!
Shouldn't I be running my own school by now? Have a pension and a credit card? etc etc etc
I think it's still a pretty big milestone, but think of this - if 40 is the new 30 does that make 30 the new 18 (or 21)? That'd be great!
Best birthday wishes to your wife, once again.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

johnslat · Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:10 pm Post subject: Fame

Dear Is650,
Better start getting some "Fame" then:

"(Fame!)
I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
(Ha!)
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
(Fame!)
I'm gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
(Fame!)
I'm gonna live forever
Baby, remember my name
(Remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember."

And, given what EFL teachers make, you might want to consider a line of work that's more financially rewarding. Forever's a long time to try to live on peanuts.
Regards,
John

Kitegirl · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 101 Location: Lugdunum Batavorum

"Fame"? Johnslat? Don't we all have it already? I mean, who's ever going to take Andy Warhol seriously again when he was so off-track? Fifteen minutes, schmifteen minutes. I'm clocking up a good six months so far. Who needs an appearance on Jerry Springer? Or 911? Or the latest exercise in Big Brother humiliation?
As for my star status, in the best Chinese tradition, I'm Guangzhou Normal Celebrity Number Four.
I can't buy shoes without droves of people coming in off the street to gape. If I'm eating, everybody else's food goes cold, because you can't simultaneously ogle and eat.
It's great, next time I run into Michael Jackson in the row at the cash register in Safeway we can exchange commiserations about the burden of fame.

Oh, and everybody else - my whole life I heard my mother say her thirties were the best years of her life - she was strong and beautiful and sure of herself, no more messy twenties-insecurities. I agree.

Shaman · Joined: 06 Apr 2003 Posts: 446 Location: Hammertown

30? I had a buddy who coined age 27 as the beginning stages of F.N.T. (F*cking Near Thirty). Personally, I'm happy the "Roaring 20's" are over, although the 30's haven't proven that dirty (so far). Wink

Shaman

Lynn · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 696 Location: in between

I'll be 30 this year. I don't think 30 has any meaning in my culture. In Japan and China, there are so many celebrations based on age. Here 21 year olds get drunk with their friends at a bar, but we don't have any traditional celebrations with family.

In Ecuador there is a huge celebration for a 16 year old girl. My student told me that she wore a beautiful pink ball gown, and there was a parade and 100s of guests came. It seemed quite elaborate.

I think many Americans joke about age. They don't want to get older, so they joke about it.
A: Hey, tomorrow is your birthday. How old will you be?
B: I'll turn 29.
A: Oh yeah. You've turned 29 about 12 times now... haha
all break out in laughter

Snoopy · Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 185

I can't remember being 30.

Mark-O · Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:54 am Post subject:

Don't they call those years your "dirty thirties"? If there's truth in that then I'm wishing away my days to the big 3..0..

Mark-O · Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:56 am Post subject:

By the way, to put legend to rest: what is the minimum age one can be to legally possess a gun in the USA?