Jung Dong Ha is going to be 40 yrs old next year ???

No, no,  that can't be! 😲

Who said so? Well, Jung Dong Ha himself said so. At a recent special yearly concert dedicated to the late Kim Kwang Seok, Dongha sang his very well known ballad "About  Being 30".  He had performed it multiple times before - he almost always participates in this commemorative event. But this time he apparently said that this was probably the last time he would sing this particular song, because he will not be in his 30-ties any more. He will turn 40 next year.

What? I must protest! This is wrong.
Jung Dong Ha was born April 17, 1980. So everywhere in the world, except Korea, he will be 38 next month.
So a year from now he will be only 39!
I was already slightly irritated last year, when 37 yrs old Dong Ha received a cake with a big number 38 on it, but I didn't say anything. It's the silly way Korean calculate age of a person. Why is that? I did some research online, and here is what I found on the website https://www.90daykorean.com/korean-age-all-about-age-in-korea/  

"Age in Korea is different from age in other countries. You may be thirty years old whether you are in the USA, France, or Russia, but as soon as you arrive in Korea, you magically become thirty-one or thirty-two. How can this be?
Well, Koreans have a different way of calculating their age than people in other countries.
People in most countries calculate their age based on their birthday. If you were born on April 1st 2000, then you would turn 17 on April 1st 2017. However, in Korea, age isn’t calculated based on your birthday.
If you are born in the USA, then on the day after you are born, you are considered to be one day old.
In Korea, on the day of your birth, you are considered to be one year old; the time you spent in the womb counts as the first year of your life (despite it only being nine months). Because of this, your Korean age is always at least one year higher than your international age.(...)Koreans all age on the same day. January 1st. No matter when your birthday is, if you were 40 years old on December 31st, then on January 1st, you will be 41. Korean age works as if everybody was born on January 1st.(...) if today is February 14th, and you were born in July, you would add two years to your age. If today is February 14th, and you were born in January, you would just add one year to your age."

Under  the article quoted above, a Korean posted a comment: "I read this article and found it succinctly explains what Age means in Korea. However, the explanation on Korean age is not correct. (...) The reason why the new-born baby's age is 1, is that it is the first year of the birth.
So, regardless of the birthday, at January 1st, everyone get 1 year older.
It has nothing to do with that pregnancy period."
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OK, then now that we have full understanding of Korean convoluted way of counting age, we can listen to Dongha singing "About Being  30", maybe for the last time? It seems that knowing he is approaching 40, he feels he will not have the right to sing about being in the 30-ties. Therefore he sings it somewhat differently, with added emotion, and nostalgia. His face expresses self irony, maybe. How cute.

                    

New beginning

While I'm re-starting my blog, I am still a very devoted fan of Jung Dong Ha, but I have to admit, I do feel a little different. 
My previous blog  jungdongha.blogger.com, originated out of sheer excitement with a new discovery of a wonderful singer in a far-away country.
This time, it's going to be more like solid cheering for him, by someone who knows him well, and is aware of his past, and current endeavors. I already know who he is, and what he is capable of, as an artist. So I want to keep saying "Go, go go, Jung Dong Ha! Keep going!"

The past 4 years consisted of excitement, and adventure. Excitement of finding him, and going through countless of videos, and audios. Excitement of meeting new friends online, who shared their knowledge with me about him, whenever I had questions. I followed his appearances on TV, his concerts, his interviews . It was so easy, because his fans diligently record and share everything! 
I became more adventurous than ever. I attempted to learn Korean language, because I wanted to know the lyrics of his songs. First of all I learned to recognize his name written in Hangeul alphabet.  Now, I know some common expressions.. 😀 I learned a lot about Korea itself.
Also, because of Jung Dong Ha fever, I developed new hobby - watching Korean TV dramas - LOL - it's true!
Then, there was a big adventure to travel to his concert  near Washington DC!!! Wow, I saw his live performance, and I was NOT disappointed.
Finally, almost out of the blue, I decided I must  go to Korea to see him in the musical Notre Dame De Paris. I took advantage of the fact that my adult son went to Korea to teach. I felt it was a sign that I should just do it, while visiting my son. It was a once in a life time opportunity. It happened!!!! I visited Seoul, I went to the musical, and I even got to shake Dongha's hand, and get his autograph on a CD. And I got to meet a few of his fans in person and they were very nice.
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It's all in the past, enjoyable as it was. Nothing like this awaits me any more, I don't think so.
Following Jung Dong Ha became a steady hobby of  mine. It's still extremely enjoyable, but not as frenzied as before. I love being his fan, and I feel proud of  all his success. Cheers.