Happy Birthday, Suemae
I am 25 today. I have been in existence for a quarter of a century now.
What have I accomplished in life? The length of the list varies in the eye of the beholder, but I would say that I had a good year with a steep learning curve and many changes since my last birthday. One of my crazy goals (I don’t know why, thus it is crazy…) is to get married when I am 24. The closest I got to that was going out on a few dates and an impromptu marriage proposal. As to getting to my overall goal and dream, I think I have been taking baby steps up until now but am praying that it would soon be a steady pace bringing me forward to it within the next year or two.
This is my 5th birthday in Japan after a year’s break, and it is different but nice. No more birthday dinner, movie, and プリクラ. I didn’t even get my birthday picture taken! Now, there is no new picture for my profile! (Gasp!)
Even the celebrations are at a very low key this birthday; I enjoyed every bit of it. I had lunch with お母さん yesterday and by chance, Jewel joined us. We had a good time catching up over sushi. After that, お母さん and I enjoyed “Miss Potter” together. I really enjoyed the movie. It has cute bunnies and eye candy. It made me weep a little, but simply, BEAUTIFUL!
I battled the trains back to my apartment in the evening and slept well since I was exhausted due to the early class I had with Dr. Franklin in the morning. When morning broke, I got up without the buzz of any alarm which made it a relaxing morning and that rhythm took its place for the rest of the day. I went to church, skipped the special dance presentation to have a really easy lunch with Baileyna. We had Mexican food on Omotesando. After seeing her off at the station, I met up with Mark and Sunil at Harajuku. Mark greeted me with one of the best birthday hugs I ever had and we just sat at one of the best seats at McDonald’s to people watch.
Mark left Sunil and me to continue our weekend rendezvous as we waited for Matthew. We hung out at Yoyogi Park watching the “interestingly dressed people” and listening to bands. We sat at the park and enjoyed the wonderful weather. Really, it WAS very relaxing and I enjoyed it. Strange, eh? But I guess I have learned how to truly relax and enjoy the simple things in life.
Soon the trio was completed when Matthew made his appearance and we made our way to a Thai restaurant on Meiji Dori. We had a good relaxing time enjoying Thai food and playing with our wine glasses. After dinner, we continued our wonderful span of conversation topics at a nearby coffee shop. The night ended early and we parted slightly before 9.
No cakes, no candles, no lavish gifts but I am happy. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and that I guess, defines who I am right now. I am just a simple girl trying to make it in this crazy world and am thankful for the people God placed in my life. No gift is more precious than of true friends and their time is the best gift ever. The best thing about it is that I have been enjoying this almost every Sunday!
So, what lies ahead this year? I will continue to strive on towards my goal and would deeply appreciate your prayers, encouragement and support. Pray that I will be able to enter graduate school soon with enough provision to support myself. May I continue to be faithful in my daily worship and grow to be a young woman doing everyone proud.
Keeping it simple and only focusing on the important… Happy Birthday, Suemae.
