Happy Birthday to me!

I just spent my first birthday in Japan, and it was fantastic! I honestly thought it would be like any other day because I wasn't planning to do anything really special until this Saturday night when a big group and I will go out for Okinawan food at The Pineapple House, but I was pleasantly surprised. For some reason, the actual day of my birthday has never been that great although the celebrations later were always fun, so this year I didn’t really expect much.

The first surprise came when my manager, Ayako, gave me a really cute coffee mug and a very sweet card. I was just shocked that she remembered and even bought me a gift, but it turns out that everyone remembered and everyone bought me a gift! Kaori gave me some really cute traditional crafts, Akiko gave me some fun candles, and even my student, Mayu, gave me a nice tea set and beautiful kimono bag. Later I went out to have Indian food at Nana’s with Michelle, Donna, Alex and Une. Of course I had my favorite meal: hara bara murgh- SPICY! I also got to open more gifts: a tea set and lots of panda stuff from Alex and Une, and a gorgeous picture frame from Michelle. Then Mayuko, Nana’s wife, brought us all complementary chai tea! It was the perfect end to a delicious dinner, and a wonderful birthday.

Now it’s off to start another day, but I’ll write more about the party on Saturday!