Birthday Celebration

The last two years for my birthday I made it a point to go somewhere I'd never been before. This year it was kind of hard to do that. First, it was because I had a lot to do on my actual birthday. Second, my birthday snuck up on me. I'm one of those people who will annoy you and tell you my birthday is a month away. I think I was so focused on spring weather this year that my birthday felt so far away. Either winter lasted way too long or I am just old and forgetful. Both are quite possible.

I had just a small get together this year. I told everyone not to get me anything because I don't need anything, and after living here for two years and understanding that the Russian salary is nothing (like I make less than $400 a month), I really didn't want people spending money on me. Against my wishes, I was given gifts. According to Russian tradition, if someone invites a group of people out for the celebration they are responsible for paying for everyone's food and drinks. Apparently I forgot about this because I just looked back at this post and saw that I had written about this very thing. I bought tea for everyone but not the food. I felt really guilty when Anton brought it up later, and I still feel guilty now because of the fact that everyone got me a gift. I'll file this under "Awkward Cultural Differences."

All-in-all it was a great birthday. I'm looking forward to many more! :)

April 13, 2017

If you read this post from last week then you know that I celebrated my 28th birthday. Can you believe I graduated from high school and started college 10 years ago? Anyways, it was a pretty simple day. I didn't get any sleep the night before because I was mulling over my decision for next year. I said it wasn't an easy decision, and it really wasn't.

I had an individual lesson and then a work meeting. I walked in late to the work meeting and my director and everyone started singing "Happy Birthday," and they presented me with chocolates and a rose with an abnormally long stem. I hate having attention drawn on me in that way but I was grateful for everyone who celebrated with me. After our meeting I sat in the office in the office and talked with one of my colleagues for a while. Around 5 I met A and we went to one of our most frequented cafes for dinner.

After dinner we picked up a cake. I took a picture of A holding all my gifts and cake, but in reality I carried all my stuff back to my house. :) I had an interview that night, which I should have cancelled since I had accepted another job beforehand but decided to keep it because I'm the world's worst interviewee so I figured the extra practice couldn't hurt. Then A and I had some cake with tea to finish the night.

Thank you to all who wished me a happy birthday!

Twenty-Eight

Today is my 28th birthday. I'm 28, and I still get carded for alcohol (even in Russia where the drinking age is 18). I'm 28 which means I never set foot in the USA during my 27th year. I'm 28 and still have never been married, but, honestly, I'm okay with that. I'm 28 and officially older than both my parents were when they got married and had me, which is depressing because I still don't feel like I'm ready to be an adult. I'm 28, and I have more gray hair than any 28 year old should. I'm 28, and I've already had the opportunity to travel to nine countries and live in abroad for two years. I'm 28, and I still have a lot to do to complete this list. I'm 28, and I still imagine I'll marry Leonardo DiCaprio just like my 8 year old self. Some things never change.

So, here's to the past 28 years and all the people I met and the friends I made and to the next 28 years. I can't wait to see where life takes me!

My Twenty-Seventh Birthday

I had a great 27th birthday here in Russia. I am so thankful for so many great friends who celebrated with me. I started my day by meeting my friend, Alesya, for lunch at Эврен. She only had an hour break so we just met for a little bit, but I was so grateful she took the time to meet with me. Russians are seriously the best with birthday wishes. I was surprised but how long their birthday wishes were. I'm used to the American, "Happy birthday," and that's it. Hopefully, some of the Russian well-wishes will rub off on me so that I can make holiday wishes more sincere.

Afterwards, I met Anton and we took a bus to Лесопарк лесоводов Башкирии (Bashkortostan Forester's Park) because I really wanted to go to the Forest Museum, which I will write about in a later post. After we saw the museum we walked to the park because they have animals there. I don't like seeing animals caged up like this, so I asked whether these animals were here to be cared for. I'm told SOME are, but it is unclear whether it's the case for all of them. We went to this museum in the winter but all the bears were hibernating, so I'm glad they were out and about. It's been so beautiful and warm here lately! I wasn't expecting it, but there were four bear cubs! They were so stinking cute! They were barking and walking on their hind legs and even trying to climb the fence. The animal keeper came to bring them to another building and the first two ran right up to him. The second two were giving him such a hard time, and the last one refused to come out. They were so cute. I almost died from cuteness overload.

My 27th Year

I can't believe I am 27 today. Where did my 20s go? I already had the day off (and they are letting me skip the 3 pm meeting), so my day will consist of taking photos and meeting up with friends. I hope your day was as good as mine!

This also means I only have three years to finish my 30 Before 30 list!

How to Throw a Titanic Themed Party

I am obsessed with Titanic and I love history. I also like throwing parties although that rarely ever happens. For my 22nd birthday I threw a Titanic-themed birthday. I wish I had more money because then I would have had a more elaborate party. I should probably re-title this "How to Throw a Titanic Themed Party on a Poor College Person's Budget" because I was/am a poor college person.

What is the  best way to feed people who attend your party? Make it a pot luck. That way everyone brings a dish and everyone gets to eat plenty of food! I tried to offer ideas about what they might eat on the Titanic, but that was kind of hard. Above is a picture of the punch my two friends made. They put a paper boat on it with a picture of me and Leo on the ship like the scene in the movie.

For the entertainment, besides hanging out, I played Titanic and we played an identity game that I saw them playing on Marie Antoinette. Everyone gets a blank card then you have a theme. Everyone needs to write a person or character name on the card. The cards get shuffled and passed back out but no one can see who they have. Then everyone needs to tape the card to their forehead so everyone else can see the card but the person with it. Then everyone takes a turn trying to guess their card. They ask questions to the group and the group answers 'yes' or 'no.' I wanted to do it so that we could only use people in history from 1912 and earlier, but my friends kindly reminded me that I was the history major and they were not. We ended up playing as Disney characters.

Now for the outfits. It wouldn't be a Titanic party if people didn't come dressed in their Titanic best! This is how I split up the Titanic passengers:

• If your birthday is between January and April come dressed as a first class passenger
• If your birthday is between May and August come dressed as a second class passenger.
• If your birthday is between September and December come dressed as a third class passenger.
• However, if you are a girl coming with a boy then you must dress in his class! Sorry, this is a male dominated society. So, if your birthday is in April, but his birthday is in August you’ll have to come as second class.
• But if you are a guy coming alone you can dress as a crew member.

Lastly, everyone who was a first class passenger got first choice of seating. Second class, second and third class last.

Birthday Week

The past week was filled with Titanic, birthdays, tea, family, and friends. I am not complaining at all! I love all those things.

On Tuesday Mandy, my friend, and I went and saw Titanic 3D in Newport. We wanted to go to the 7 o'clock showing but they cancelled it so we went for the 8 o'clock one. To kill time we got some Starbucks and sat and talked where we met a boy who had just moved here from England. It was interesting. The picture above is our attempt to be emo. I tried taking another one, but it kept saying processing and it turns out it didn't work which I didn't find out until I got home that night.

I was offered a full time position at work. I took it because I really need to money, but I do not want to end up there for the rest of my life. I found this treasure in the closet. I was so excited because I love Titanic, but I was beginning to feel like the Titanic was stalking me! :)

I finally got my infuser mugs that I ordered from Fab.com. I used one for breakfast on Saturday with the green tea Tom gave me!

I decided to get my Kentucky teaching license. I filled out the paper work and sent it all in. Now all I need to do is take another Praxis test which I am NOT looking forward to.

Finally, yesterday I picked up my brother from Dayton and we went to Toledo where we met our parents, grandma and sister. My sister is a theater major at the University of Toledo and was one of the leads in the play! I was a really funny play, kind of awkward, but good!

It was supposed to be set in Victorian times, so I was obsessed with the staging!

April 13 2012

I had a wonderful birthday and wonderful friends who celebrated it with me. This is just a small recap of the day. I first went to visit my mentor teacher and students from my fall student teaching experience. Then I met my friend Haley for lunch. We got McDonalds and headed to Eden Park to eat it. At Eden Park we walked through the Presidential grove where I saw Thomas Jefferson's tree. I had to take a picture by it because it was his birthday too! I finished my day by celebrating at Cancun Mexican restaurant with a lot of friends. I felt so loved and appreciated that day. 

Tom got me loose leaf tea and a loose leaf tea pot. He knows me too well. He told me he went in and bought the brightest thing he could find which is definitely an easy way to shop for me because I love colors and patterns. He also knew I collect tea pots. :) I also woke up that morning and saw I had an e-mail for UO. I'm signed up for their mailing list and so I was about to delete this e-mail when I saw something about a gift card. I clicked on the e-mail and saw my mom had sent me a gift card! She also knows me too well!