My Birthday 8 )

It was an awesome and extremely full day!

The teachers at devotions that morning sang happy birthday to me (twice because they had a hard time following the leader - or knowing who the leader was - so they "had" to do it twice. It was quite funny) and presented me with a cake made by Etsuko Oeschle. They asked which piece I wanted, so as a joke I said the middle one. They cut the middle out of the cake and presented it to me. 8 )

After devotions, the office staff sang happy birthday to me, twice.

One of my students remembered it was my birthday, so she greeted me as well.

After school, I promised my students that I would go swimming with them that afternoon, so I biked down to the lighthouse for an "Amerika Dogu" - it is like a corn dog, but like no corn dog anyone in the states has tasted.

After the lunch, I went to the beach to swim with the kids.

Following swimming, I stopped off at the sweet potato tarte factory (beni imo) and watched them make the tartes, chinsuko, and some sort of pie. As wierd as this sounds, I really enjoyed the experience! To celebrate my day, I bought a beni-imo soft-serve cone.

After biking home, I met up with Max who took me snorkeling out at Zampa Lighthouse. I can't believe I have never snorkeled there before. It was like swimming in an aquarium. There were more colors and clarity than I believe I have seen almost anywhere else. There were also a lot of fish, eels, jelly fish (not my idea of fun), star fish, and I found my first octopus (on my own.) Max was able to catch it again.

After our snorkeling adventure, Max did a great job of stalling for time because Aidy had planned a surprise for me at their house. The Rosenbergs (who were PCSing the next day) also joined the party and the Joslins and Junko were there as well. Aidy had decorated her home, prepared an elaborate and wonderful meal (complete with some of the "tako" I was holding in an earlier photo), and everyone really made me feel special. I was given yet another cake! What a day!

I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was a great day!