Ok well I had an awesome birthday!! This was definitely one of the top birthdays!
When I got out of bed at 7:00 for my 7:50 class, I got dressed and had a wonderful breakfast consisting of hot oatmeal and a starbucks Frappuccino (sent to me by my amazing boyfriend Christopher!!)!! I also had a phone call from my parents as well!
I arrived at class to find it completely abandoned. I did notice and hear some students around the corner, so as not to ruin their surprise I went in and waited. A few minutes after the bell rang my students came pouring in. With them they brought a little cake and some flowers while singing Happy Birthday! Of course I had taken my camera with me, thinking I would get them to at least sing Happy Birthday to me, so I was prepared. We had class speeches and then we talked for a little and I let them go early.
After class, Brittany and I, took Eyal and Alon (2 of our 3 new Israeli friends we made in Beijing) to the market. They decided to make a special birthday lunch for me and everyone to share! While in town getting supplies we also stopped at a coffee shop for a "break"! Gotta get my coffee!!
When we retured to my apartment the guys started cooking while I set the table and "stay(ed) out of the kitchen!" During this time I had many students call and drop by to wish me a happy birthday! Martin stopped by and gave me a scroll to hang on the wall with the words - Faith Hope and Love written in Chinese on it (like I always wanted) from 1 Corinthians 13:13. I had talked about those words with him and he remembered! Melody came by and gave me a dart board (thinking it was a frisbee) and a bag of dried pineapple. The night before Alcina and Sunshine brought me a scarf. My fellow foreign teachers gave me a soccer ball and the Dept of Foreign Affairs gave me a cake!
We ate a delicious lunch and then went to the music building to use a piano. Eyal and Alon played piano, guitar, and sang for us (Brittany, Jessi, and me)!! It was fun!! After a while I went home to meet another friend of ours from town, Sara!! We talked for a little. Everyone returned to my place after a little while and we just hung out. We chatted and relaxed. Apple and her cousin came over to tell me about my chinese animal - the dog! Apple also gave a me a watch (my watch broke so I had been taking my alarm clock to class!)!! At 6:40 my students dedicated a song to me on the school broadcast system! At about 7ish we (Me, Rusty, Brittany, Jessi, Eyal, Alon, Sara, and Melody) went into town in 4 Mamus to a restaurant that serves pizza!! We sat around for hours eating pizza and french fries with great conversations on the side!! On the way to the restaurant 2 more students, Doris and Jady, had been carrying gifts for me everywhere. They gave me art and a handmade wallet from "paper".
After dinner Sara and Melody headed home while the rest of us went for some dancing in town at SoHo! We had never been so we went for a new experience! On our walk home we were all so hyper, we even tried to act like trees!! - Guess you had to have been there!! When we returned home we sang Happy Birthday, cut the cake, drank hot chocolate, watched Friends DVDs , and I had a phone call from Beth!!
It was a great Birthday for being in China with new friends!!
2 comments:
A Happy Birthday is what you deserved, and it sounds like you got it! Those people love you, don't they? I'm glad you are meeting others from all over, not just the Chinese. Your experience is going to last you a lifetime. I bet you'll want more! You are in my thoughts and all. We miss you.
I'm so glad you had a wonderful birthday. What great memories you will have of this adventure.
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