Mon 21 anniversaire

I am 21 now. Birthdays are odd things – one day you’re 20 and the next day when you wake up you’re 21. That’s the first thought I had when I woke up on Monday, and throughout the day it would repeat in my head – “I’m 21.” I didn’t feel any different, and yet here I was one year older.

Having a birthday here felt very strange – I was in a foreign country surrounded by people I had only met 3 weeks before. Since I didn’t know them very well I didn’t want to make a big deal about it – I’m not one to call attention to myself. I told some of the other BCA students and word traveled around, so most of them knew. I kind of wanted to have a little celebration with them, but didn’t want to spend the money to buy a cake. Plus it was on a Monday, so people were busy with classes and stuff. My one friend said something about making one, but that never happened. Secretly I wished that they would surprise me with a little party or something, but they really don’t know me very well so that’s too much to expect. Two of them gave me gifts, though, which made me feel special – a beautiful potted flower that’s purple (my favorite color!) and a bag of exquisite chocolates, both of which I’ve enjoyed :)

I didn’t tell my host family that it was my birthday – I don’t know them very well and I didn’t want them to feel like they had to do something for me… Plus Mondays are when their older son comes over for dinner, so they’re always excited to see him and talk up a storm. This Monday they talked even longer than normal at dinner and I felt kinda trapped, because I wanted to leave to go to BCA but I didn’t want to be rude. But eventually my host sister started clearing things away and I helped her, then made my exit.

But that’s not to say that my birthday was bad – there were plenty of little things that made it special. The weather was beautiful for a change, so I could enjoy meandering outside instead of shivering my way from one building to the next. I treated myself to a pastry, which I savored while sitting outside on a bench people-watching :) Spending time doing absolutely nothing except enjoying the day was nice after so much busyness. The best part of the birthday, though, was without a doubt all the e-mails and Facebook messages I got. Thank you! It was wonderful to feel the love from friends and family at home who remembered my special day :)

So turning 21 here wasn’t anything extraordinary, but it was a good day with simple pleasures. I didn’t have any desire to drink either – and even if I had wanted to it would’ve been anti-climatic because people here can drink at 18. It’s interesting how the meanings attached to birthdays are socially constructed – sweet 16 is special because that’s when you can drive, 18 is special because you can smoke and are legally considered an adult, and 21 is special because you can drink. If not for those socially derived meanings they would just be random numbers. That’s the sociologist in me talking :)