Birthday

I always hated my birthday: no one remembers it because it's right at the end of summer/beginning of school and everyone is rushing back home or getting ready for the school year. Even when I did use to have birthday parties when I was little, I never had that typical American "happy birthday girl" experience. Maybe I've been expecting too much and get disappointed every time. That has become a sort of a trauma and I get a bit depressed around birthday time. I always wanted to disappear into a hole and come back out again 24 hours later. And this is exactly what I wanted to do today.. except that it actually turned out to be one of the best birthdays ever.

As I went into class that morning, everyone started singing to me. I was sleepy headed and came in late on a Monday morning and couldn't really capture what had happened. As it turns out, I had told my teachers that it was going to be my birthday the week before but I had completely forgotten about it. She had remembered this, and told the class to sing for me as I came in. That was so sweet!

Afterwards, I went to have lunch with a classmate since she was leaving for Germany the same day. She took me to her favorite café where they had excellent coffee and great ambiance. Let me note that she's also studies wine so she has very sensitive taste buds so she really know what she's talking about when it comes to taste!


After we parted ways, I ended up having ice cream overlooking the view of the city: one of my favorite spots to go when I want some alone time. Finished the rest of the day by watching a movie and coming home to a fantastic meal by yours truly host mommy and getting funny messages from R. Okay, I'm sure this sounds like a really boring birthday but that's the whole point. Birthdays are not about how much presents you get or hoe many birthday messages you get on Facebook (although I'm so grateful for all the ones that I got!). It's about appreciating what you have acquired in your life up until now and most importantly, to be grateful that you are alive. And so, it was a great day :)

   

R is learning some serious Japanese culture.... Japanese symbol emojis!

Contrarily, I don't get depressed because I'm getting older. I am so much more happier in my 30s and it's getting better each year as I acquire more knowledge and become a little bit more wiser. I still do stupid things now and then but I know my limitations and my aspirations. I know what makes me happy and what doesn't make me happy. I've become more minimalist and simplistic in my life, cutting out complicated things. When you're young, you think getting old is the worst but it's actually not the case at all. As my host mother told me, the best years as a woman is in her 40s and can't wait for that. Plus being Asian and all, the fact that I haven't aged *that much* is of course a great perk as well.

Café Bun 
Address: 5 Rue des Étuves, 34000 Montpellier, France
Phone:+33 6 70 86 43 24
Hours: Open today · 8:00 am – 7:00 pm