J. sends this from the information book in an Ethiopian hotel.
“Ethiopia uses the Ethiopian calendar. One Ethiopian year consists of 13 months; 12 months of 30 days and a thirteenth month of 5 days (6 in a leap year). The Ethiopian new year falls on the 10th or 11th September according to the Gregorian calendar, depending if the year is a leap year. The Ethiopian calendar is 7-8 years behind the Gregorian calendar. The 12-hour clock cycle in Ethiopia is offset by 6 hours. For example, Ethiopia refers to 6 a.m. as 12:00 hours and 12 noon as 6:00 hours. Please bear this in mind when making local appointments.”
So the calendar’s different (lots of that going around) and the names of the hours are different (lots of that going around too, apparently), but the minutes are still the same length.
Notes from the U.K. 
Makes time feel kinda random and poetic.
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Oooh, I like that.
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Also….everyone always adds half an hour as a default “agreed expectation of lateness”, otherwise you would be rudely early! J.
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I used to work with a guy who kept that schedule. Unfortunately, he didn’t live in a culture that accommodated him.
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Remind me not to make any appointments the next time I am in Ethiopia!
Looks like Eastman used to go there though..http://gizmodo.com/5917654/kodak-used-a-calendar-with-13-months.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Consider yourself reminded. The Kodak bit, though? I never heard about that. Amazing.
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“So the calendar’s different (lots of that going around) and the names of the hours are different (lots of that going around too, apparently), but the minutes are still the same length.”
As so often when observing the oddities of the world around us I can’t help but feel there’s some deep philosophical truth hidden in that final clause. If only one could decipher it.
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All too true. Unfortunately, I suspect, you need a very high fever, drugs, or psychosis before you catch a glimpse of that deep philosophical truth.
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Not worth it. In any case, the answer will probably be 42.
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I should’ve known that.
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Oh, I remember hearing about Ethiopian time measurement…It’s so interesting! Thanks for posting this since I wasn’t sure about all the details…very cool…
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I read about it somewhere a few weeks ago, but I got lost in the details and decided someone must be kidding. But no, if you pay attention (and I did this time) it makes as much sense as anything else in this crazy world.
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Indeed!!! It does make sense… I knew someone from Ethiopia who mentioned it to me and now I understand its system clearer!
Thanks and wishing you a lovely weekend!
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