My 21st birthday pose which resembles the victory of an elected parliament memberThe thought of celebrating my birthday this year was often vague with little expectations as it was just around the corner of exams and quizzes. In addition to that, almost all of my usual hang out friends either graduated, transfered to another university or even dropped out; therefore this semester for me is pretty lonely compared to my previous one. Furthermore with ruthless courses like Statistics 2 which has never been kind to my grades, my mum urged that I should focus more on my studies instead of thinking much about my birthday. Initially I thought I had many reasons to cease any plans for my birthday this year but as I remembered one of my friend's personal message on Windows Messenger that went by, "Live as if you were to die tomorrow" persuaded me that maybe it wasn't a good idea to skip my birthday celebration as I might not have a chance to celebrate it anymore since life and death can be very unpredictable. Consequently, I decided to throw a birthday celebration as usual this year. However unlike the previous year, I had to postpone my celebration 4 days later as I had to prepare for my dreadful Statistics exam which was on the following day. Despite delaying my celebration, things weren't all that bad as I had the opportunity to feel young for 4 more days. The biggest problem that I had to deal with for this year's celebration was to determine who to invite; practically, there was no one to invite at all since most of my friends were not studying in TRU anymore, as mentioned before. Despite the lack of friends I had over here in TRU now, I still had many acquaintances who had the potential of entering my circle of friendship; therefore I decided to extend my invitation to them unlike my usual celebration which were strictly limited to friends only. One might say that I was desperate to have people coming to my party which may be true but nevertheless, it never hurts to make new friends. It wasn't long before I started spreading out my invitations and it wasn't long before I received many declines due to religious or work reasons; the worst ones were the one not even bother replying or giving false promises. At the beginning, things didn't go too well seeing that hardly anyone bothered about my birthday celebration; however all hope was not lost when I reflected on the Indonesian students over here in TRU who somehow showed some interest in me due to a past social event with them where I decided to be friendly and talkative for just a day. Knowing that they were also nice, friendly and humorous people, I thought inviting them to my birthday party would make my celebration an unforgettable one. My instinct was right and having my Indonesian acquaintances at my 21st birthday dinner was not only a great blast but also a celebration filled with utmost joy and laughter.
A week before my birthday dinner, I was lucky to bump into my Indonesian acquaintances in campus; I informed them about my upcoming birthday celebration and most of them looked forward to it. I even told them to invite their other Indonesian friends along too as I might know some of them seeing that I shared several classes with some Indonesian students in my previous semester. The invitation was not only restricted to the Indonesian students but also my Japanese friends especially Maaya and Yoshitaka as I have known them longer than anyone else and we have been good friends. Realizing that Maaya introduced a couple of her Japanese friends like Mai Furuya and Emi Kato, I thought I should invite them as it wouldn't hurt to extend the acquaintance further into possible friendship. Consequently, it wasn't long before I started verbally inviting them to my upcoming birthday dinner when I happen to bump into them in campus.
As I had invited enough people, my next challenge was to decided a venue to hold my birthday dinner. Knowing that 15 to 20 people will be coming, I had to look for a restaurant big enough to accommodate the "platoon" of people I invited. Fortunately for me, it wasn't long before I solved the problem when I remembered that my roommate's girlfriend's dad owns a Korean-Japanese restaurant. I consulted Jihae who was my roommate's girlfriend and I asked her whether she could help me with my birthday dinner's venue. Knowing that I would be bringing plenty of customers to her dad's restaurant, she immediately informed her dad and it wasn't long before she said that she could give me the entire restaurant for the night of my birthday celebration. Eventually, I had that problem solved and I was on my way to organizing a great birthday dinner.
On the night of the dinner (which was just last night), I somehow became nervous and worried as I feared that I might receive a lot of last minute bail-out on from my friends I've invited. To make matter, worst the reminders I sent to them earlier that day via SMS weren't even replied or acknowledged. An hour before the dinner began, I became more nervous as I could not help but to think for the worst. However, Maaya who's always by my side playing the role of my best friend, reminded me that there's still her, Randy (her boyfriend),Yoshi, my roommate and his girlfriend (who was working at the restaurant that night) to celebrate my 21st birthday with me regardless of whether the Indonesian students turned up or not. Knowing that she had my back, I was slightly less worried than before.
When Randy, Maaya and I arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by my roommate and his girlfriend who was working there that night; however, there were no sign of the Indonesian students I invited or even my good friend, Yoshi. I told myself to be patient, not to freak out and I even began feeding myself with good reasons on why they are not here yet. Fortunately, my patience was rewarded when Gary, one of the Indonesian students turned up. I welcomed him in before I introduced him to Maaya and Randy. Gary and I chatted with each other as we wanted to catch up on one another seeing that we haven't seen each other for the entire week in campus. In the middle of our conversation, my Japanese friend, Yoshi entered the restaurant. I then knew that it was a good sign seeing more people are turning up and it wasn't long before the rest of the Indonesian students turn up one by one. That night, I had 18 people celebrating my 21st birthday with me. It was 3 times the size of people at my 20th birthday party last year and since then I knew that it was impossible for my 21st birthday to be dull.
That night, the restaurant were filled with loud chatters similar to a parliament debate and wild laughters similar to the one in a comedy club. We were all having such a great time together and I really felt great knowing that I managed to introduce my good Japanese friends ,Maaya and Yoshi to my Indonesian friends. Later on that night at the dinner, we started shooting our cameras, taking photos together and just as we were about to leave, one of my Indonesian friend, Adi surprised me with a big birthday cake. Songs of "Happy Birthday" were sang in 3 different languages comprising English, Indonesian and Korean which touched me real good that I almost shed a tear. After making a wish and blowing the candles of the cake thunderous applause rumbled the restaurant.I personally serve the cake to all of my friends and even the owner of the restaurant. The cake tasted great and it tasted even better when I realized that my Indonesian friends took a lot of effort to make my 21st birthday celebration an unforgettable one.
My instinct was right and having my Indonesian acquaintances at my 21st birthday dinner was not only a great blast but also a celebration filled with utmost joy and laughter. After that night, the Indonesian students who attended my birthday dinner weren't my acquaintances any longer; instead, they became my friends as they showed how much they appreciate me by making my 21st birthday a remarkable one. As for my good Japanese friends Maaya and Yoshi, we became closer than before as we all celebrated together the day I grew older.
A week before my birthday dinner, I was lucky to bump into my Indonesian acquaintances in campus; I informed them about my upcoming birthday celebration and most of them looked forward to it. I even told them to invite their other Indonesian friends along too as I might know some of them seeing that I shared several classes with some Indonesian students in my previous semester. The invitation was not only restricted to the Indonesian students but also my Japanese friends especially Maaya and Yoshitaka as I have known them longer than anyone else and we have been good friends. Realizing that Maaya introduced a couple of her Japanese friends like Mai Furuya and Emi Kato, I thought I should invite them as it wouldn't hurt to extend the acquaintance further into possible friendship. Consequently, it wasn't long before I started verbally inviting them to my upcoming birthday dinner when I happen to bump into them in campus.
As I had invited enough people, my next challenge was to decided a venue to hold my birthday dinner. Knowing that 15 to 20 people will be coming, I had to look for a restaurant big enough to accommodate the "platoon" of people I invited. Fortunately for me, it wasn't long before I solved the problem when I remembered that my roommate's girlfriend's dad owns a Korean-Japanese restaurant. I consulted Jihae who was my roommate's girlfriend and I asked her whether she could help me with my birthday dinner's venue. Knowing that I would be bringing plenty of customers to her dad's restaurant, she immediately informed her dad and it wasn't long before she said that she could give me the entire restaurant for the night of my birthday celebration. Eventually, I had that problem solved and I was on my way to organizing a great birthday dinner.
On the night of the dinner (which was just last night), I somehow became nervous and worried as I feared that I might receive a lot of last minute bail-out on from my friends I've invited. To make matter, worst the reminders I sent to them earlier that day via SMS weren't even replied or acknowledged. An hour before the dinner began, I became more nervous as I could not help but to think for the worst. However, Maaya who's always by my side playing the role of my best friend, reminded me that there's still her, Randy (her boyfriend),Yoshi, my roommate and his girlfriend (who was working at the restaurant that night) to celebrate my 21st birthday with me regardless of whether the Indonesian students turned up or not. Knowing that she had my back, I was slightly less worried than before.
When Randy, Maaya and I arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by my roommate and his girlfriend who was working there that night; however, there were no sign of the Indonesian students I invited or even my good friend, Yoshi. I told myself to be patient, not to freak out and I even began feeding myself with good reasons on why they are not here yet. Fortunately, my patience was rewarded when Gary, one of the Indonesian students turned up. I welcomed him in before I introduced him to Maaya and Randy. Gary and I chatted with each other as we wanted to catch up on one another seeing that we haven't seen each other for the entire week in campus. In the middle of our conversation, my Japanese friend, Yoshi entered the restaurant. I then knew that it was a good sign seeing more people are turning up and it wasn't long before the rest of the Indonesian students turn up one by one. That night, I had 18 people celebrating my 21st birthday with me. It was 3 times the size of people at my 20th birthday party last year and since then I knew that it was impossible for my 21st birthday to be dull.
That night, the restaurant were filled with loud chatters similar to a parliament debate and wild laughters similar to the one in a comedy club. We were all having such a great time together and I really felt great knowing that I managed to introduce my good Japanese friends ,Maaya and Yoshi to my Indonesian friends. Later on that night at the dinner, we started shooting our cameras, taking photos together and just as we were about to leave, one of my Indonesian friend, Adi surprised me with a big birthday cake. Songs of "Happy Birthday" were sang in 3 different languages comprising English, Indonesian and Korean which touched me real good that I almost shed a tear. After making a wish and blowing the candles of the cake thunderous applause rumbled the restaurant.I personally serve the cake to all of my friends and even the owner of the restaurant. The cake tasted great and it tasted even better when I realized that my Indonesian friends took a lot of effort to make my 21st birthday celebration an unforgettable one.
My instinct was right and having my Indonesian acquaintances at my 21st birthday dinner was not only a great blast but also a celebration filled with utmost joy and laughter. After that night, the Indonesian students who attended my birthday dinner weren't my acquaintances any longer; instead, they became my friends as they showed how much they appreciate me by making my 21st birthday a remarkable one. As for my good Japanese friends Maaya and Yoshi, we became closer than before as we all celebrated together the day I grew older.
Followed by my authoritative salute...which many refers to me being a teapot instead of a fascist dictator...
It's always great to know that Maaya is always by my side...with the watchful eye of her boyfriend, Randy of course
Yoshi and I always roll together. Having him at my 21st birthday couldn't be any better.
My roommate Kim Bum and his girlfriend Jihae who were working that night at the restaurant, fitted some space between their work time to celebrate my 21st birthday with me
Chantel Kim, one of the Indonesians' crew member from South Korea happened to work there that night as our waitress. Knowing that she worked hard to keep my birthday dinner going that night, I thought of appreciating her effort by snapping a photo with her.
Adi my Indonesian friend(the guy on the far right) and his Korean girlfriend Jinnie were there to watch me turn 21.
Presenting the 1st cake to Adinda, the female comedian from Indonesia who kept everyone laughing the whole night.
Funny man Jansen was the other comedian from Indonesia
Dimas, my former Statistic 1 classmate who's not only sharp with his looks but also with his voice. That guy has the accent of an American.
Adinda's cousin, Andra, a bio student from Indonesia 
Adinda's roommate, Romaero putting on a big smile with me in this photo shot.
Joseph from Indonesia tagged along as well
A photo shot with Ari with the watchful eye of Jansen
Gary, the Indonesian rocker
The Indonesian cousins
The platoon at my 21st birthday celebration
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