Happy Birthday to me!

Well, I'm another year older. And boy, what a year the last one was! This time one year ago I has having a delightful day of pampering thanks to my fabulous female friends, in amidst of crazy wedding and moving plans, all to happen a few days later.

For about the last ten or so years though, I get a bit down before my birthday. I seem to do this stock take of my life and look at where I am in relation to where I thought I'd be at that age. While I'm loving life over here, this year I got really down about the things I don't own or have yet. No house, no car (we have a company car), no kids... you know.. all that stuff. I felt like I had very little to show for my 34 years on this earth. Then I talked to a couple of very good friends of mine who cheered me up; Chris, who lives back in Oz now and who despite the physical distance is so close in my heart, then to the the other Mel, who was always a good friend but has become so much closer in the last year and I'm not sure what I'd do without her friendship and support over here. It made me realise that while those material possessions would be great, it is my dear friends, my wonderful husband and my family who are important. The material stuff will come, but right now, I'm happy with what I have.

I then watched the movie Hotel Rwanda. Wow, that really put my life into a bit more perspective. What happened to the Rwandans was atrocious. Here I am living in this incredibly safe country, in a sweet little apartment, with a job I love, great friends scattered around the world and a fabulous husband. I feel so lucky to have been born into this life and for the choices I have made that have brought me here.

So my birthday has been a good one so far. Last night some girls that I teach privately threw me a party. They hung a banner which read "MERANI" and had made me cards and decorated the room. You can see one of the cards here. That's me in the red dress. I've received a couple of great presents and have a cool weekend ahead of me.

Wayne and I are going away. We're pretty serious about saving money at the moment (for those material things), so we decided to catch the cheaper train to Osaka, pack light and then stay in a love hotel. I'm pretty excited. In total, I've lived in Japan for 4 years, and never been to a love hotel! In all of Japan, Osaka is famous for the strangest themed rooms. I really want to photograph one for the book. Personally, I'm hoping for the Hello Kitty S&M room, or otherwise maybe a bumper car room.... anyway, once we get back I'll let you know where we ended up with a G-rated account of course...