happy birthday dear abby, happy birthday to me

I would have to say that birthdays in foriegn countries have so far been a complete awesomeness. Of course this has also been my first birthday outside the US, but hey a rating of 100% coolness doesn't hurt. So here's a run down for the day: -slept in to around 10:30am -did a little Taiji -took a shower -journaled about how I am getting old and where my life is going, etc -went across the streat to get some yummy dishes (which I ordered and we got also most every dish correctly (4 out of 5, and one was really really close) -then I did a little bit more journaling about the awesome time I had with my Chinese friend Hillary -followed by a Settlers of Catan game with Steph, Meryl, Sarah, and myself (which I won) -Then I played tichu until around 5:45 -Then me and almost the entire SST group (plus British Dan) went to Pizza Hut, which is actually pretty fine dining here in Chengdu, nice Italian inspired decor, fancy menus etc. And they actually got a table for all 19 of us, which was awesome. So I had pizza for the first time in a while and it pretty much rocked -Then I came back on the bus, chatting with my amazing friends, finished the Tichu game and then came over here So I would definitely have to rate this birthday in the top 3 at least. Lots of love to you all across oceans, etc. And thanks to all of you who emailed me happy birthday and even to those who didn't. You all rock!