Surprise!

I walked right into it. Saturday, the night before my birthday, I unsuspectingly and quite drunkenly walked into a new bar with three of my friends, totally unaware that a gaggle of gaijin (and gaijin-lovers) were waiting inside to wish me a happy birthday.

Saturday night began with a meal at an organic restaurant in Yamaguchi city. It was really good and I was happy to be able to eat an entire meal at a restaurant! They had this carrot tempura that looked like shrimp tempura. おいしい！

Then we battled the rain and drove back to Tokuyama. The driver was from Yamaguchi, so I figured she was making this dangerous, dark 1 hour trip because she really really needed to get out of the house. I could have took the train home (and she obviously wasnt drinking that night).

We get to the gaijin-bar, Ell's Ditch and I start in on my cranberry-vodka nomihodai (all you can drink). I'm blabbing my life story or something pointless like that when Ashley shows up (late!) at 12:30 and says we have to go to this other bar, because her boyfriend is there and she promised to meet him.

We get there and my friend's name is on the flyer as the DJ. Him not telling me he's DJing didnt set off any suspicions. Ashley pays my 1000円　cover, and Im still not suspicious. We go inside and see my coworker inside and I still think nothing of it. I open the door to the thump-thump-thump-techno room and see *someone* who ten minutes earlier said he was too tired to come out, and I still don't get it and brush past him a little pissed off.

When I look in the room and see nearly half the people Ive met since coming to Japan sitting around and not enjoying the thumping I start to kind of get it (remember, I was half in nomihodai at that point). Finally, when my friend came up to me and said, "You realize everyone's here for you?" I replied, "Yeah, I know. I get it."

So I was standing on a dance floor with everyone staring at me laughing. People start coming up and saying "Happy Birthday" and giving me gifts. And I want to die. I then demand someone bring me a cranberry-vodka.

The rest of the night was fun and blurry. I remember I may have danced (or jumped). And my feet hurt because I wore heels that day (and a dress, OMG).

Then I spent my real birthday, Sunday, hungover and mostly in my birthday suit. Later, I went to an Indian restaurant with a boy who has such a HUGE crush on me he doesnt even know it (or what "crush" means, or where my blog is).

And my mom got me a Nintendo DS and Lauren got me the New Super Mario Brothers and Im in World 8 and about to beat the game.