happy birthday to me

Today was my 22nd birthday (though sort of technically not, since Korea is about a day ahead of the U.S., but today was Nov. 30th and that is my birthday). You always ask yourself if you feel older when that year creeps up on you, but I think I'll still be wavering back and forth until tomorrow morning when it feels true.

But it was a good birthday, certainly as good as could be expected if not better. This morning I had the traditional Korean birthday breakfast with my host family--rice with red bean, seaweed soup, and a big birthday cake. When we were in Seoul for Thanksgiving Aaron told Rachel and I about the birthday cake for breakfast phenomenon he'd witnessed, and it's a ritual that seems to extend to my host family as well. I also opened a few presents from my host sister: socks from Seo In (a popular gift in Korea), a hair-clip from Seo Young and a pair of gloves from Seo Jin. I think the birthday celebration was probably this morning because it's the only time that we'll all be at home at the same time ('all' actually excluding Seo In and Mr. Lee). I remember when we celebrated Seo In's birthday a few months ago it was on a weekend, and so we ate cake and gave her presents in the evening, over at the grandparents' apartment. (Which meant I got to watch her grandfather eat some pixie sticks that I'd given Seo In: first he dumped the contents of one on top of a slice of cake and later he mixed one with his orange juice).

The birthday excitement at school at first mostly consisted of me trying to figure out what to give all of the teachers and staff. At my school at least it's expected that on one's birthday (or another special occasion, like when one buys a new car), that person treats the teachers and staff to some kind of treat, like fruit or rice cake. Weeks ago I'd decided that I'd give everyone oranges, since they're in season (the oranges here are small, more like tangerines), and also they aren't too expensive (I'd spend maybe 40,000 won to give 77 people a few oranges each, with some extra). When one of the administrators at the school celebrated his birthday yesterday and gave everyone not only duk but oranges as well, I felt a little thwarted, but oranges still seemed like the best option. Then I felt even more thwarted when Jeju University for some reason decided to send oranges to the high school today--some kind of recruitment ploy, I guess. Oranges two days in a row is okay; oranges twice in one day is not. My host mother, who was helping me with the ordering, suggested apples or kongshi (persimmons, but the kind of conical kind that get very sweet and squishy when they are ripe and that are actually really good). Finally I settled on giving everyone yoghurt, which ended up being cheaper than oranges anyway and seemed acceptable. Anyway, I think it was because I think few teachers were expecting me to give them anything on my birthday.

Later today a cake appeared on my desk, with no note, so I still don't know who it's from. I encountered Mr. O, and he didn't mention it, and Mrs. Kim, the chemistry teacher who often gives me little gifts because I tutor her daughter, gave me a pretty extravagant purse later in the day, so I ruled her out. My co-teacher joked a few times that it was from the strange man who popped up at my school a couple times and made me really nervous, whom she has dubbed "the ugly-faced man," but I'm pretty positive he doesn't know my birthday.

I also got a big bouquet of white roses from the vice principal, who told me with much laughter that he remembered my birthday because his wife's birthday is the same day. The bouquet was nice, though I do find it kind of strange that florists here frequently glue glitter to a bunch of fresh roses. Then the three third graders, U Jong, Min Seon and Jin Hwa, who took the big college entrance exam recently and now only stay at school until about noon, lured me out into the courtyard. I noticed they looked a lot more relaxed and two of them had gotten their hair done, I'm guessing to celebrate the end of the exam. They lit a candle on a piece of cake and sang to me, and then gave me a pair of underwear--sort of like feminine boxer shorts. They were Christmas-themed (or as U Jong put it, "Christmas atmosphere") and were red with two sort of cutesy reindeer on one leg. There was also the words, "I want to make love to U" which I laughed over but I don't think they quite understood. I've also suspected that English-literate Koreans, when they see the English language used in that way, on stationary or clothing or a store sign, even if they can tell that it's inappropriate or nonsensical, don't really react, I think just because it seems run of the mill and normal to them. I actually wasn't sure how to react when thanking them. I've noticed that Koreans in general are more spontaneously physically affectionate than Americans, especially between members of the same sex, but I wasn't sure how to express my gratitude because outright hugging seems to be sort of rare in Korea. We ended up sort of rapidly patting each other on the back while holding our bodies about five inches away from each other.

In addition to the wonderful gifts, I got a text message from some students in one of my Thursday classes wishing me a happy birthday, and a second grade class sang to me when I let them know it was my birthday. And of course numerous teachers wished me a happy birthday as well. I also got a few e-cards, two from Fulbrighters, and one from my dad. I should be getting a package from Mom in the next day or so.

So in general, a good birthday--especially when I sort of expect it to extend into tomorrow.

Reading: Just finished "A Tale of Two Cities" last night. It was my first Dickens, and I really enjoyed it. I feel like I've heard the final line, "It is a far better thing I do now, than I have ever done..." quoted a lot recently, I want to say in relation to the election or some other politics, but I can't recall. Now that I know what it really refers to it makes me much more curious. I finished "Mona Lisa Overdrive" a couple days ago, and have reluctantly set aside "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" because it really is causing me itchy eyes and sneezing.