Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Calendars}

I never thought something that I learned how to use in kindergarten and first grade could prove to be such a crazy thing here some days. It's easy to point fingers though when they are juggling no less than 3...yes I said THREE calendars in their day to day lives.

Please let me be the first to tell you that I didn't even know that 3 calendars  existed lol.

1.  

The western calendar or Gregorian Calendar {or what we would simply call...a calendar} - This is by far the least used calendar here in Taiwan although it's what I use when I'm here! (I promise I'm not being stubborn! You'll see it's easy to flip back and forth here.)

For instance, today's date is Tuesday, November 11, 2015 && my birthday is January 11, 1990

2. 

The Taiwanese Calendar or Minguo Calendar - This is the most commonly used and official calendar of Taiwan. This means that although you can find calendars that fit description #1, all legal papers, official documents, and general day-to-day life events use this calendar. While the months and days are the same as the Gregorian Calendar {see I told you it was easy to flip-flop!} the year follows the pattern of the number of years since the start of the Republic of China (ROC) commonly known as Taiwan. When Sun Yat-sen became the first president of Taiwan (in our year 1911 or 104 years ago) he ordered that the year be declared the first year of the ROC and thus the calendars begin at year 1 of the Republic. Essentially, you always subtract 1911 from whatever the western year is!

For instance, today's date is Tuesday, November 11, 104  && my birthday is January 11, 79

3.

The Lunar Calendar - This calendar, although not used for their day-to-day lives, is also extremely common in Taiwan as a large majority of their holidays revolve around this calendar. I personally have trouble understanding all the logisitics of this calendar and simply know that it is the second date (usually smaller) date posted on all calendars in Taiwan! This calendar fluctuates from year to year and its months are aligned with astronomical dates and happenings and the cycles of the moon.

For instance, today's date is September, 23, YiWei && my birthday is December 15, JiSi

{quickly figuring out why we don't use this one all the time!}

Check out this website and learn your Lunar Calendar birthday!