Quarter Life Crisis

So Saturday was the day of the Ashikaga Wine Festival and it was my birthday as well. I hit a quarter of a century on Saturday. Wow, I'm ancient in JET years. Every JET in Gunma had been waiting for this day for months...not my birthday, the wine festival, silly! The wine festival is a day when you pay only $15 as an entrance fee to the winery and you get a bottle of wine, a wine glass, and a cork screw. OR, if you are allergic to alcohol, as I am, you could get a bottle of grape juice, the glass, a cork screw (not needed in this case, but nice), and seedless raisin clusters? Anyhoo, that's what I got. Damn me and my Asian genes. Ugh! No worries, I'm not hating on my Asian self...as I usually do. Because I knew I couldn't really drink at the festival, I decided to make special brownies the night before. It was my first time...this is my excuse by the way...since they didn't freakin' work! Haha. So instead, I decided to pass around the brownies to everyone. That's right...everyone. If anyone had a drug test for work or parole or anything, sorry. Regardless, I had an awesome time at the festival. It was just SO nice to be able to sit and talk and relax with my friends. I enjoyed the spectacle that followed as well, as the hill we were sitting on was VERY steep and people were VERY drunk. Anyway, I got some presents and a cake from Mami and Minako. Thanks, girls! The cake, actually a giant fruit tart, was soooo good! I'm telling you people, the Japanese know how to make their desserts.

After we made our last bus out of the wine festival, we headed to Ota for my birthday dinner. This was very last minute, by the way, as everyone knew they'd be super drunk and had already decided another day would be better...plus...it was right before payday and everyone is scrounging on those last few days...I know I always am! Anyway, my dear Ota buddies decided to have a bday dinner for me. Sweeto! Many people came from all over Gunma, far and wide, to attend this dinner. Again, Gunma JETs were NOT waiting for months in anticipation for my birthday. I know, I know...hard to believe, right? Sad. So yeah, we headed to Olivia's? Italian Restaurant for dinner. It was yummy! For less than $5, you get to choose 2...that's right..2 desserts! Though they may be small, they are gooood! Ok, so moving on...

After dinner (thanks to all of you who attended!), a group of us headed to the top of Gen for some karaoke. It has been way too long since our last karaoke session. However, I doubt the mic missed me much. We all sang our hearts out and had even more to drink...well, some of us did. At the end of the night, everyone was dead tired, but I think all of us had an awesome time. A long and fun day, indeed! The day after, I heard that many many people had the worst hangovers in history. For that reason, maybe it was a good idea I didn't get the wine...I would've gotten sick for sure. Sad! Again, thank you ALL for celebrating my quarter life crisis with me! It really ain't that bad when you have your friends right there with you! I am a lucky gal...

Thoughts of the day:

As you may have noticed, I finally got around to posting pictures on my blog! I took a laziness break (not a break to be lazy but a break from BEING lazy...which is all the time) and decided to go through my entire blog to post pictures from past entries. So if you are bored as I was yesterday, please feel free to scroll down and look at my pictures. If your house is on fire and you only have time to look at one picture, I suggest the bident one.

I called home and talked to my mom today. I know I should do it more often, as I did in Singapore, but it's almost like it's harder b/c it's easier to do so now? Does anyone get what I'm saying? I know my predecessor, Robbie, does since he said the same thing before I arrived. Anyhoo, apparently my mom saw the pictures I sent to my sister and asked who Jeff was. My sister told her that Jeff is my boyfriend.....but he is gay. Perfect. I told Jeffu this and he was amused. He said that at least my mom didn't say, "Don't be hanging out with those gays!" or something. Very true, very true. I see this as a sign of acceptance. That's why Jeffu and I are deciding to get married...just for the cake, of course. Sad.