Day 15 - Birthday

I remember planning this day with Clinton prior to leaving Hawaii, talking about wanting to drink and just have fun today. I didn't even think ahead about how many good friends I will make on this trip. It's truly a blessing to have so many friends who cheer my name on such a joyous occasion.

Starting from midnight, I get a knock on my door. When I open the door a little bit all I get is a very jolly "Happy Birthday!" from Clinton standing no more than a foot away from my face. It was such a surprise I couldn't stop laughing. Out came Nami from behind him laughing as hard as I've ever seen because her plan came into fruition.

This morning was my morning off from school, so I was 'planning' to sleep in as much as possible. But, unfortunately I hear the doorbell ring again and again at close to 8:00am which is the normal leaving time for everyone who has morning class. I knew it was someone at my door from one of the five others who live with me, so I opened the door to my surprise. Out came (POW!) from those little birthday-pullers that shoot confetti. About three or four of them came flying out from who I notice is Joy, Nami, Clinton, & Ashly. And seconds after that Pinky (who lives in the other apartment complex) poked her head in to shoot one of those directly at me.

They then gave me a little sundae with Pocky sticks (20) to represent the candles on a cake. It was cute, and I really appreciate them for going through the trouble. I then told them by, closed the door, and tried to go back to sleep. Now unfortunately after having those things popping right in front of me and my heart now racing a little, it was inevitable trying to fall back asleep.

In afternoon class today, I walked in and sat down like it was any other day. Out from the corner of my eyes are the two Korean girls skipping in singing -if not yelling- the Korean birthday song. It was pretty embarrassing watching/listening but it came from their hearts, so I enjoyed it.

So the plans for the night was to go out to dinner with whomever could come, and so Per, Annie, and I made the reservations and invited everyone to come. By 8 o'clock I had 16 people standing outside my apartment building eager, hungry, and ready to celebrate my birthday. We went to the restaurant Tatsumi (corrected from the previous Tsumomi) to have dinner. It was pretty spacious and we were able to make as much noise as we wanted. We had lots of different foods including chicken liver, and parts I asked Ikuho not to name. I just requested that she order "interesting yakitori" for me to try.

The drinks, well, the drinks were so-so. My first was a Kahlua & Milk - nothing could go wrong and nothing was. Our second round of drinks were all sours, and boy did they live up to the name. Not only were they sour, they were just horrible. While you drink it, you get a sour bite and when you're done your throat burns of an awful taste. With drinks and sips here and there it really helped the food go down smoothly.

At the first round of drinks Per just shouted "everyone, kampai!" and I see our tables full of my friends lift their glasses and everyone began to shout. By the second round I decided to just shout kampai for the heck of it, and not only did everyone lift their glasses, the now 20-person group began singing happy birthday, and those not in our party -like in any restaurant back home- joined in. I got to hear the Korean version along side the "Japanese" (same as American) happy birthday song; and Per even sang happy birthday in Swedish for me. To think everyone came out to celebrate my birthday doesn't really make me feel big-headed or anything of the sort, but deeply touched. Thanks everyone.