お誕生日おめでとうございます。

I want to begin by saying thank you to everyone for making my birthday so special! I received so many phone calls, messages, and emails that it really made my day. It was such a relaxed day here at school and I couldn't have been happier than to spend it with the great teachers at Sanwa.

Amid the messages and, "oh, yeah it's already your birthday over in Japan!" I was able to reflect on this past year of my life. As any college graduate knows, this has been quite the transition year from protected, but BUSY school life, to a life with some real responsibility and no homework! And it doesn't take moving to a foreign country to feel a little out of your element and uneasy in your new adult skin. I have been so happy with the direction my life has taken and I know I have worked hard to make it this way. But, my life is not entirely my own and I really cannot find the appropriate words to thank everyone that has given me so much support in my learning and growing and transitioning. And the reason I am so lucky is because people in my life remind me that they love me everyday of the year; they don't need an excuse (like my birthday) to remember me.

Aaand jump back to yesterday, I was sitting around at my desk and some of the teachers were showing each other card tricks. They were having so much fun. I love the audible surprise and shock the Japanese have about almost everything. When I come home and I am still doing it, you will know exactly what I mean - and you'll laugh at me. So, they ask me if I know any card tricks. I know exactly one card trick, and I think nearly everyone else on the planet knows it too, but I don't care and I break out my skills. First, whenever I have cards in my hands I shuffle them - just habit. Well I shuffled like I was taught when I was a kid and the whole bridge motion at the end of the shuffling routine baffled them. So before my trick I took some time to teach them how to shuffle.

Then I launch into my card trick and as soon as it is over, the oooos and aaaaahs commence. Then, they want to know how I do my trick. I was a bit confused because I was always told it was a dire sin to teach those you were trying to "wow" with your secrets! The music teacher saw the glimmer of confusion on my face and in Japanese says, "Hey! In America they don't tell how to do the trick. It's not fun, you know!" I just smiled, but they persisted so I broke down and told them how. Yes, the magic community will now excommunicate me, but I can deal.

Around 3:30pm, I am sitting and reading at my desk and I notice that the lights in the teachers room are being turned off. Now, the teachers have been going in and out of the room all day busy with meetings and things. But I did not expect them to forget about me and completely turn off the lights! Then Otsuka-sensei comes over to me and asks me to come with him. I guess I am used to being kind of clueless at this point, so I follow him. Turns out, all the teachers bought me a cake and sang to me!!! It was such a great surprise and really made me feel like someone they cared about and wanted to celebrate. I love spending my time at Sanwa and I will be a little sad when things change in April.