This year I was 22 and 23 at the same time.
I remember how I would cry every year when it was my birthday. Maybe it’s because my family forgot my birthday a lot since I am the only child in the family whose birthday falls on an odd month – October. Half of my siblings were born in August, we have twins in the family and they were born in December, and the last child born was in June – VERY close to my father’s birthday. My mother’s birthday is in September. Or perhaps I didn’t like to celebrate my birthday because I know that I am getting older and didn’t want to/wasn’t ready to face the reality of becoming an adult. Whatever it was, I would cry every year. Not hysterically, but there are moments throughout the day during my birthday where I just want to sit in a corner and cry a little to myself and then continue on with my life.
So much has happened in the last three months since I have left America (and even before I left), that I am appreciating every new year, month, day, hour, and second of being alive. This year was almost one of those years again where I would just want to sit and cry to myself a little.
But this year, I didn’t cry. I woke up and my heart smiled.
I feel like I have been asleep for so long and I am finally waking up from a dream. Although that dream is comfortable and I want to go back to it, I know that I won’t. Even if I did go back to that dream, it wouldn’t be the same because I would wonder why I went back when I am living and breathing in a new reality. And you know, there are some things that I would like to come true from my dreams, but perhaps if I live in my reality, some of those dreams will come true. I just have to be patient.
A few friends and I went out for my birthday. We went to an okonomiyaki restaurant. The food was delicious. The okonomiyaki mix I liked the most was the cabbage mixed with CHEESE and other ingredients. It was incredibly delicious.
Then we went shopping at Seiyu. Which is a Wal-Mart owned company in Japan. Big corporations are taking over the world! Anyway, I bought a few household items from there. I actually went to the mall before dinner with the energy to buy things for myself. But I left the mall empty handed. Maybe it’s just that particular mall because I never buy anything from there except for yarn.
Afterwards, we went to Starbucks and we had cake! The cake was from Fugiya Ginza (not from Starbucks!). And yes, I got a happy birthday song AND I was able to make a wish. It was delicious – a light, fluffy, chocolate cake with pieces of white chocolate sprinkled on top. Apparently, Japanese birthday cakes come with these two little characters called Pokochan (boy) and Pikachan (girl). They are super adorable and I do not have the courage to eat such cute things! So I am going to adopt them and they are going to be my little people! They shall keep my refrigerator occupied and will be named Jack and Jill from today forward.
And that folks is how I celebrated my birthday. I like celebrating my birthday this way. There are no high expectations for anything. It’s not that I don’t have high expectations for myself; it’s just the opportunity to enjoy it with good company in a calm environment. I’m telling y’all, I’m an old soul haha!
Happy 23!
p.s.
I’m definitely guilty for using way too much preposition in my classrooms. “Do you know what this is?” “Where is the student at?” AND I am guilty for using “so” like crazy in classrooms. If you were a student in my class and if I could give you a penny for every “so” that comes out of my mouth, you’d be rich.
Mai Yer in Japan 