Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Okay, today was pretty much one of the best days in Hualien. I woke up around 7am, so not too early, and not too late. I hadn't been to my normal running trail in a long time because I've switched to doing workouts and not just runs. So today I decided to head back to my trail for old time sake. It was a cooler morning then it has been, so the run was absolutely perfect. On the way back I stopped by our old breakfast stop and picked up a taro steamed roll. It's also been a while since I've had one of those. So my breakfast today was a taro roll and the custard apple I had bought a couple days ago (because it was finally ripe).

After breakfast I showered and went to the pose office to send off the package of souvenirs. It's funny that I tried so hard to haggle and shop around for all of the souvenirs I bought, but then I went and spent $40 U.S. to ship it home. Goodness gracious, it was not fun to drop NT$1,288 on a package. But I'm glad that it's off and on it's way home, and I'm glad that I don't have to pay for an extra bag on the plane AND lug the extra bag around. At least this way when I pay extra, I don't have to worry about still bringing it.

I went to Tzu Chi at lunch today. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. They were way late picking us up, but it didn't really bother me because Natalie and I were just chatting it up while we waited. When they picked us up they took us to a room where we ate lunch, but Director Tsai came in and told us to eat lunch alone and she would be back after her meeting was over. We had Pizza Hut pizza for lunch, as well as the typical bowl of rice and vegetables that they usually supply. When Director Tsai came back, we talked about things that the delegates can do Saturday morning when they are in Provo. The delegates weren't even there today. It was just Natalie and I telling Director Tsai, Venerable Ying, and some other guy I've never seen before, all about Provo. Although it's not what I expected, I had a great time. They were really grateful for our suggestions and you can tell they are beyond excited to come. I'm excited for the to come too, and I'm especially excited because I'll get to go out and tour a little bit with them (they also want me to play tour guide, we'll see how that goes).

When we were done at Tzu Chi (actually, we could have kept talking, but Natalie had to get back to prepare for class), I met up with Amy so that she could take me to pick up my glasses. I was just thinking this morning how I really wanted my glasses to be done today so that I could have them for sure and not worry whether they will be late and I wouldn't be able to get them in time. Low and behold, after having that thought, I got an e-mail from Amy saying we could pick them up whenever. I tried them on at the store and I've been wearing them since. I really like them. It's not as weird as I remember to wear glasses. I remember that it bothered me because you don't have peripheral vision, but I guess I haven't had to use it too much today or something, because it's not bothering me.

I had to be back to the school by 4:10 pm because last night Natalie asked if I could come down to class at that time. Because she only asked me to come at the end of one of the classes, I was a little bit suspicious and thought that they might have been planning something, but I didn't want to get my hopes up in case that they weren't doing something. But then Natalie reminded me today to come down and to bring my camera. I asked if we would be in her classroom and she said we would be in the combined classroom. Again, I was pretty sure they were doing something, but I tried to down play it. I mean, it's only Thursday and so the kids' last chance to see me isn't until tomorrow. But, when Amy was dropping me off, she said "Happy Birthday Brooke." I told her that my birthday wasn't until Tuesday and that she knew that. She then said that they were throwing me a party today and so she felt like she should tell me today. Okay, my suspicions were confirmed right then and there :o)

So at 4:10 I went down to Yellow Class and Natalie's class hadn't merged over quite yet. I walked in and all the kids started saying my name, and I tried to direct their attention to Beth instead, but it was lucky that Beth had JUST ended. Natalie's class came over and Areti runs up and hands me a large birthday card. Inside the large card, there was a small birthday card from everyone of the kids. It was adorable. The kids sung to me, and then they brought in a cake. I sat at the little table like the preschoolers do when it is their birthday, and I took pictures with all the teachers like the preschoolers so, and I took pictures with all the kids like the preschoolers do. I didn't have candles nor did I wear the birthday hat, but I felt pretty darn special. Then the kids sang all 3 of the birthday songs to me: the regular Happy Birthday, then Happy Birthday in Chinese, and then the primary song "You've Had a Birthday" So I got sang to like the preschoolers do. And it was no crappy cake either. The kids got little brownies from the cheese cake place that Nancy and I love and then the teachers got a type of cheese cake, I guess. It had a honey cake layer at the bottom and then a cream that was soft, but still cheese cake-ish, and then white chocolate shavings. It was a GOOOOOOOD cake. It was so insanely sweet of everyone to plan out for me. Natalie says that she remembers me talking about how sad I was that I am leaving the day before my birthday and so she wanted to make sure that I could have at least a small celebration before I leave. It was awesome and I've been telling her thank you all night. I hope it's enough.

Tomorrow night Beth and Natalie are going to Taipei with Grace Chu (long story behind who that is- I don't know her, but she's kind of a family friend to Natalie's family). There is a Branch Temple trip on Saturday so they are going up, spending the night, and then exploring Taipei Saturday. They invited me along, but I've done enough trips and spent enough money on Taipei that I declined. But, Natalie thought it would be fun if Beth, Natalie, and I all went out to dinner before I left. I pointed out at lunch today that tonight would be the only time that we could go because they will be gone tomorrow and will get back too late on Saturday. Beth was really tired and had some stuff to catch up on and so it ended up just being Natalie, Amy, and I. We had a great time, but we all wished that Beth could have made it too. We went to a spaghetti place for dinner and they gave us a lot of food. They accidentally brought out bread to our table instead of the table next to us. Natalie and I are used to Italian places having bread, so we didn't think twice and we snatched a piece before the waitress could correct the mistake, so we got some free bread. Then we had our pasta and a bowl of corn chowder that tasted really sweet, almost like the cream was melted ice cream. (That probably sounds really gross, but it was really good- it wasn't melted ice cream with corn and ham in it, the soup just was sweeter then I'm used to.) Then, they brought out a small bowl of pudding. I gave most of my pudding to Amy (as did Natalie) it's not that it wasn't good (it was REALLY good) I was just so stuffed and wasn't planning on their being dessert.

We tried to go look at an English book store that Yuling mentioned the other day, but it has closed already, so Amy headed off, and we headed back home. We passed the fruit stand on the way back so Natalie and I stopped off. We picked up a lot of fruit that was new to us and tomorrow for breakfast we are going to sample all the new fruits.

Oh yeah, I got my table cloth back from Ariel's mom today. It was still all wrapped up, so after getting back, I sat down and pulled all the strings out. It turned out! I'm so excited! You can definitely tell where Steffanie tied the strings and where I tied the strings, but it still turned out. I have to wash it tomorrow, so I hope that the color stays, but as of now, I really like it.

So I got my glasses today, I got my table cloth, Steffanie talked to a member of the ward who got me a really good deal on a piece of jade that I saw and wanted when we went to the stone market on Tuesday, so I paid Steffanie the money and will get the jade tomorrow, I got a cake, and Natalie paid for half of my dinner. It really was a great day today. I am so happy right now :o)

P.S. Grandma and Grandpa Smith, I know that I look really different in my glasses, but I think that on Monday I will be wearing these, so get a good look at these pictures so you'll be able to recognize me in the airport :o)

P.P.S. Family living at 650 Danica Place. The package that will be coming in a week is full of things for you, but please note that it is addressed to me. This means that under law, it is illegal to open that package. I want to be there when you see your presents for the first time, and I might have to do some explaining. So, I know how some of you (Kim) can be impatient and love (Kim) to open other people's mail, but you MUST NOT open it. You got me? I'll be home soon enough to open it up, just stick it in my room so that it doesn't tempt you. LOVE YOU!