Hello this is the first blog of my 51st year. Yes that’s right, it’s my birthday blog. I have to admit that sounding off about your birthday at 51 is not very popular, but I don’t care! I really had a good time. So that leads me to tell you about my birthday this year.
It all started back in February when I knew Ben would have to be resetting his passport in April. I decided to pull a few things together for the week before my birthday. Ben could get his passport reset, cherry blossoms would be peaking, and I could plan a very short trip to Japan for my birthday. It was a short trip, and it was expensive but hey, it’s Japan. I don’t mean to brag, but I don’t know anyone who takes off for the weekend to go to Kyoto, Japan for their birthday. I did!
While there, I stayed in a very nice hotel. It had a very warm pool with a fitness center, a bath with a sauna and a resting area for relaxing afterwards. It was very rich, and I took advantage of it after the very long and exhausting tour on Saturday.
On Saturday I took a 9 hour tour of the major sights. It was a very good tour, but I wish it had included fewer sights and given us more time to really enjoy what we were seeing. That’s the problem with sightseeing tours. You don’t sit in the driver’s seat, you ride along. So we made the most of it. The sights were mainly of temples and pavilions and castles. The adjoining gardens were remarkable and of course Kyoto is famous for the way they planned the locations in such a way that mountains were easily seen from important locations. It was truly amazing and I would love to go back if I had more time.
The next day we had a 5:00 return flight from Osaka, which takes only 1 hour to get to. So, I went to the Kyoto museum in the early part of the day. It featured historical information about the city and the culture. There was a special exhibit about the textile designs that were used for costumes and traditional clothing such as kimonos. I found that very interesting. When we ready to leave the museum we went to find some lunch. However, we were out of cash and the ATM’s were not very accommodating to foreigners. So we used my credit card and ate at Starbucks. It was a very recognizable sandwich and a coffee.
It was getting late and time to head to the airport. We returned to the hotel to catch the shuttle back to the train station. We missed the shuttle, and had to wait for the next one. Then when we arrived at the train station we had to figure out which train to take. The lady at the counter was not very fluent and our Japanese well, it doesn’t exist. So we made do with the recommended train to Osaka.
Unfortunately it was the slow one, and we had a transfer that we missed and then had to take the next one. By this time, I was very afraid that I was going to miss my flight. In fact we did miss our flight.
We arrived at the airport at about 5:10, just 45 minute late to board the plane. For the next 2 hours, we worked with the Jeju Air clerks to find another flight. The flight left the next day. Uh oh!
I was very afraid at this point. I was going to have to call my Ko teacher and explain. She had already been so accommodating and let me leave early on Friday. Koreans just don’t take days off like other people. I knew this was going to put a dent in her confidence in me.
Somehow, she understood and I went home the next day.
I was glad that she wasn’t mad, but I was really angry at myself. Not only did I screw up the schedule, but I had to shell out about $400.00 more for an airport hotel room, dinner and penalties for the rescheduled flight. LIVE and LEARN!
The birthday celebration wasn’t over because I had a bad return; it just slowed me down, gave me time to think. I had Monday off due to my mess in Japan, Wednesday and Thursday off from my other school, as the students were off on a field trip.
SO I actually only worked 2 days that week, neither of them was busy or difficult. And then I had Saturday and Sunday to play again. Plus I got an early gift from my son Joe and a couple of cards that were sent early from family and friends. To get a birthday gift from Joe is great, but an early gift sent all the way to Korea, WOW!! It’s very cool to be getting older. He sent me a lovely small quilted purse that he said just called my name. How sweet.
The weekend weather was beautiful and we took advantage of the weather and went for a bike ride each day. On Saturday we went to the Asian Olympic Rowing Regatta at the Tanguem river in Chungju. It was a nice day. Sunday we rested and went swimming. I made a delicious chicken soup.
But finally it was Monday and it was April 30. I got up quite gladly and came to work. When I got here I found out that I had no classes and my Ko teacher bought me a lovely present. It was bottle of rosemary bath gel and a card. I spent the day resting and reading. The day was over and I went home.
Ben surprised me with a delicious vegetable and chicken salad with almond and walnut dressing. The table was set with a double orchid center piece. It is gorgeous! As I looked around the room, I saw colorful balloons blown up and floating on the bed and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner that he made. Ben said he had a lot fun being creative about making my day very special.
He really went all out. After dinner he brought out a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream. We laughed because he had gone to a lot of trouble to find sparklers for my cake, but feared lighting them in the apartment. It might set off the smoke alarm and cause a scene. So the sparklers were lit later down by the river about a block from the apartment. We had fun playing like kids in the dark.
Altogether, I think I had the best birthday ever! It was celebrated 7,000 miles away from home, but I felt the love and joy from all of my family, friends in the USA and Face book friends from around the world. Thanks everyone, I am very happy to be getting older and yes, life is getting better! I’m look forward to everyday being 51.
