h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>toybox, could you please explain more about the significance of turning 7 in France?<<

Actually, I don't really know. It seems to be some sort of popular saying that 7 years old is 'l'age de raison', but I have no idea really where this comes from, if it has some greater significance, or if this is a widely known saying (it *could* be a family thing, but that would rather surprise me).

Which means, I will try and find out about it

At first sight, it is a very widely known thing, so not just a family stuff (there is even a novel by Sartre called 'l'age de raison', though it may be irrelevant to the 7-years thing).

I have to away to real life now unfortunately, but I will look for more as soon as I possibly can

In some parts of the UK females have far fewer birthdays than males, I'll explain:

When I was born my sister was 10
When I was 10 my sister was 20
When I was 20 my sister was 29
When I was 30 my sister was 35
When I was 40 my sister was 43
When I was 50 my sister was 50 as well!
Now I'm 60 I get introduced as her older brother.

Has anyone mentioned getting the bumps? You get thrown in the air for each year of your life and sometimes one for luck.

Being thrown in the air sounds like a nicer tradition than the prevailing one here - to get a smack on the behind for every year, and as you say, sometimes one for look. An idea that was probably invented by a lecherous old man.

Among my friends it's a light punch for each year.

Thanks for the research, Toybox!

i don't think the 7 year old thing is specific to France. Isn't it something from the bible?

Right folks, I've put this as it currently stands into the Edited Guide Writing Workshop. More opinions gratefully received!

A few ones from the Far North:

7 - watch certain movies at the cinema

11- watch even more movies at the cinema

12 - your opinion starts to matter concerning medical treatment, where to live if you parents split up etc.

15 - you can drive a moped, rent movies at the local videostore and have sex if you want to, but at the same time you get legally responsible for your actions and can be put in jail (even if that is extremely rare. )You can watch any movie you want.

16 - you can drive a light motorbike or a tractor. You can start to practise for your "real" driver's licence. You can start a business of your own.

18 - you're legally an adult. You can buy or sell want you want, vote in elections and referendums , become a MP, be a pornstar, get a driver's license for most vehicles (apart from lorries and some other biggies) and get drunk at a bar. You can't buy anything alcoholic but max 3,5% beer.

20 - you're allowed to buy booze and become a cop

21 - you can get any driver's license you want.

25 - you can adopt a child, or go to the hospital to get sterilised.

65 - you become an OAP

Celebrations... well 15, 18 and 20 are of importance at that time. 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 65, 70 etc are celebrated later in life so to say.

(coming very late to the discussion with nothing to add except that on YouTube there is a Lego version of Dinner For One which Gruesome#1 gets to watch on her birthday each year - since it's on 31st December)

In Spain 18 years is the most celebrated. YOung became adults officially.
16 is also celebrated if they want to drive a motorcycle or to have new breasts.

Maybe the following isn´t of interest for your Entry, but it´s good to know if you attend a Spanish birthday:

We sing Happybirhtday to you. It´s the same tune as yours, but it´s translated into Spanish. It´s the same in southamerica, but in Mexico they sing Las Mañanitas:

Estas son las mañanitas/ these are the little mornings
que cantaba el rey David/ that the king David sang
a las muchachas bonitas/ to the pretty young ladies
hoy por ser tu cumpleaños/ today because it´s your birthday
te las cantamos ti: /we sing them to you:
Despierta, mi bien, despierta /wake up, my darling, wake up
mira que ya amaneció/ see that the sun rose
ya los pajarillos cantan / the birds are singing
la luna ya se ocultó./ the moon is gone.
etc.
Ah! there´s another song that it´s sung in Spain together with Cumpleaños Feliz /Happybirthday, it´s:

Feliz, feliz en tu día,/ happy, happy in your day
amiguito que Dios te bendiga,/ little friend may God bless you
que reine la paz en tu día/ may peace rules your day
y que cumplas muchos más/ and may celebrate many more.

Usually, we sing those two songs one after another.

In some southamerican countries, in rich families, girls celebrate 15 in the fashion of Northamerica. Cheesy dress, a party and all that.

A tradition here was to name the criature with the name of the saint of the day it was born. It´s supposed to become a kind of protector, a Guardian Angel or goodmother/father.
Not everybody celebrate their name day if it doesn´t coincide with the birthday, but there are exceptions: José, Juan, Antonio, Santiago and Manuel are always celebrated because they are special holidays.

I have in the back of my head something related to Artemisa and the tradition of putting candles in the cake.

I hope something of what I´ve said helps.

About the bumps. When we were young, it was more the case that being lifted up slighty was the precursor to being bumped down onto the ground, and the count being made each time there was a bump, one for each year.

The number of candles in the cake should be the same as the age you are turning. Also a wish should be made when blowing them out.

mini

What I meant with having "new breasts" is that you can have a surgical operation without parental consent.

Ah, right, candles.

In Germany, we don't put them on the cake. Of course, American television is importing all kinds of nonsense traditions, but this is how you do it *properly*

There are usually special candle holders that go up to the age of, say, 16, often concentric rings or little trains.

But that's 16+1. Besides the ones for the years, there's also a fatter, taller candle called the "Lebenslicht" (life-light), which is also the one that adults get. And it's bad luck for anyone but the birthday kid to blow that one out.

The special birthday candles you can buy are usually white, about the size of normal Christmas tree candles, and decorated with lucky symbols. They seem to come in two varieties these days: one has red wax hearts and green wax four-leaf clovers; the other is printed with more colourful lucky symbols. (Horseshoes, hearts, four-leaf clovers, chimneysweeps, pigs, fly agaric [toadstools], coins, ladybirds.)

pigs?
I´d love to have a candle!

Here's the candle holder, albeit without candles:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/TheBelana/BirthdaycandleHolder#

That's not *quite* right (ours is the same thing, but in green )

I think you can get them in blue, too. Ours was red when I was a child, so I bought a red one for my children.

I hope they still make green ones if I ever have children, then