25!

July 6, 2011 25!

I recently experienced the best birthday ever. There was only one drawback…

I think I was incepted. [More on that later.]

My… let’s call him boyfriend, for now ;), came to Japan to celebrate this momentous occasion with me, and we did it super big.

We started off the festivities with a road trip to Shirahama’s Adventure World, an amusement park and zoo where you’re invited to “Feel Nature.” There’s something about a zoo on a cloudy, slow day that makes you feel less excited to see the animals, and more sorry for them. We kept noticing things, like the leashes tied to the birds ankles to keep them from flying far. Or the generally shaggy appearance of most of the animals as they grew out their winter coats. It didn’t help that we watched videos about lion cats the night before, so the shaggy guys we kinda laughed at, with pity, of course. ;)

The next big thing was the WAJET Bunkasai Talent Show & Fundraiser in Yuasa (random fact: Yuasa is known as the home of soy sauce.). It was a great event – there’s so much talent in our prefecture, from photography to baking, sign language, juggling, martial arts, comedy, and of course, music. I was trying to figure out what I would do for the show when one of my good friends who plays the sax asked if I’d sing along on his set with some “Summertime.” Then, after a great night of karaoke, another friend asked if I wanted to do something with him on the guitar. We went with Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and India.Arie’s “Beautiful Surprise.” I had a chance to practice “Summertime” over Skype, but I couldn’t rehearse “Grenade” and “Beautiful Surprise” until the day of the show. I was having some trouble with the words of “Grenade,” (I thought I knew it… sike!) so I wrote them down for a little cheat sheet. “Summertime” went really well – my friend is a beast on the sax. “Beautiful Surprise” went pretty well too… then “Grenade” happened. I was in it, feeling it, with hand movements and smiles, when whoosh… the words just left me. Fortunately, my friend was there to help me out, and we did a little impromptu duet until I got situated. By that time, I was reading directly out of my little notebook, and I thought I was good until I lost the order of the words in the chorus. In true Kaila fashion, I yelled, “dangit!” and tossed the notebook. It was epic, hilarious, and a wee bit embarrassing. But then, I was super shocked when they announced the winners, and I got first place! While each person performed, an envelope with their name on it went around, and whoever raised the most money won and would get to decide to which charity we would send the money. I think it helped that my sugar daddy was there. ;)

Summertime, and the livin is easy!

Click picture to watch video… “Beautiful Surprise” From Bunkasai

Click picture to watch video… “Grenade” From Bunkasai

These ladies wanted to take a picture with me! I felt famous! :D

The next week, we headed to Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea for my birthday.
And so, the inception began.
We were heading out by night bus on Tuesday, and while I was at school I got a message from Ken saying that he finished wrapping my birthday present, and that it would be ready for me when I got home. When I got home, sitting on my genkan step were flowers and a huge bag with a box in it. I asked what was going on, because my birthday wasn’t until Thursday. He said it was my present, and I could open it then or on my birthday. Like any not-yet-adult would, I asked, “Will I have something to open on my birthday?” He said “Well, no…”
“Hmm…” I thought to myself. [I should mention that I had a gut suspicion that Ken had come to Japan to propose on my birthday. He was originally going to come early in May for Golden Week, but decided to plan the trip around my birthday instead. He'd also been dropping hints, some subtle, some not so subtle. For instance, when one of my best friends got engaged in late April, and he said, "You're next." So, I thought my birthday present would be a ring. You can imagine my confusion when I saw this huge box that he wanted me to open two days early.]
“Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm…” I kept thinking. “Why do you want me to open it early?” I said, “You don’t want to carry it around?” “Right,” he said, “it’s kind of heavy.” I told him I don’t mind carrying it around, and then I asked, point-blank, “well, what is it?” He said it was something we could use, either now or later, and mentioned it would be nice to have on the 12 hour bus ride.
“What is it?” I asked again, and then jokingly added, “an iPad?” “Maybe,” he said.

Maybe.
Maybe?
Maybe.

Maybe an iPad. “Hmmmmmmmm” I thought. By this time I was way past confused. I didn’t even want an iPad. Ken wanted an iPad. It looked to me like one of those, “I’ll get it for you, for ‘us’” presents. I thought back to one of our conversations where I said the only way I’d get an iPad is if someone gave it to me. “Hmmm…” But then, I thought again… “What about the ring? I’m not gonna ask him, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be proposing?’ I know there’s a ring here somewhere…” And then it clicked. iPad PLUS ring! Of course! Most balling-est birthday EVER! In my mind, it was all connected… there’d be a picture of the ring on the iPad or something… or maybe it’d be an engagement iPad?… my mind was whirling with ideas. What’s engraved on it? What apps will I download first? 10 minutes before I wasn’t even thinking about an iPad, and then all of a sudden, here I was, completely consumed with the idea of it. [For shame... I promise you I'm not the materialistic girl I allowed myself to be.]
I decided to play it cool. I knew that Ken had a master plan for the way he wanted things to go, so I sweetly asked him, “What do you think I should do? Do you want me to open it now, or on my birthday?” He said, “Well, I would like for you to have something to open on your birthday so…” “Ok!” I said, “birthday it is.”

We got packed up and headed out for the train. The next morning, after a bus ride that would have had us back in Seattle if it would have been a plane, we made it to  Tokyo Disney & Disney Sea. It was amazing.

...and not just because I met Eeyore!

I really wanted to go to Tokyo Disney because I heard a lot of good things about it from other JETs, and because I felt it would be an awesomely sweet sayonara to my childhood & adolescence. It was all that and more, mainly because Japan just takes things to another level of cuteness and customer service.

Just look at these guys! How cute is that?

In the states, we just get the same ol Mickey Mouse ears. In Japan, you can buy a full on Mickey Mouse hat. Like his whole body, chillin on your head. They have ponchos and headbands and underwear… all Disney themed. It’s actually a bit ridiculous if you step back and think about it, but I wouldn’t recommend it… just go with the flow.

Check out my Goofy hat, complete with ears hanging from the sides. Love it!

Then, the customer service is out of this world. Everyone, from the characters to the janitors are super polite and committed. On my birthday when we were at Disney Sea, while buying some socks the cashier asked where I was from and I told her Wakayama. ;) I mentioned that we were there for my birthday and she squealed with excitement and clapped for me. Then, she took a “Happy Birthday” sticker out of the register and wrote my name on it. She told me that then, people might say “Happy Birthday” when they saw me. She was serious. For the rest of the day, as we walked around the park, every time a staff person saw me, I got a round of applause and some form of “Happy Birthday.” Talk about validation and celebration! You just can’t beat that! Some people even went out of their way to say it. I felt like royalty.

The poncho that saved my day & the sticker that made it.

I didn’t really want to leave Disney Sea (wasn’t ready for my little celebration to end), but it was raining cats and dogs so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I had noticed Ken doing some scheming with the hotel staff before we left for the day, and when we got back to the room there was a “Happy Birthday” card from the hotel, complete with two origami cranes. I loved it.

We went down, present in hand, to dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was beautiful. I don’t care much for Paris Hilton, but her pops knows how to put a hotel together. Our seats were next to this fountain/waterfall kind of fixture, tucked away in a private corner. Dinner was great, but I noticed Ken wasn’t eating much. “Is he nervous?” I thought to myself.

The whole day I had been expecting for the proposal to happen. I’m not usually that girl… but the inception was working. I woke up the morning of my birthday thinking, “By the end of the day, I’ll be a fiancée. This is crazy. & exciting.” I know my Kenny, and I know he likes to go all out. I remember telling one of my friends that I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a way to have Mickey Mouse hand off the ring, and have a whole parade singing me love songs. Since we went the day without a parade or proposal, I figured at dinner, it was going down.

So there we were. Me, handling a steak, and Ken, pushing his pasta around his plate. I finished and Ken had the server take both of our plates away, claiming he didn’t really like his food. He asked me, “Would you like to open your present?” “Oh yeah!” I exclaimed, thinking, “Disney Sea, applause, steak, iPad, AND ring? Best birthday evaaaa!”

I took the box out of the bag, and as I unwrapped it, I noticed something. This was the box for the food processor my friend gave me the year before when she went back to Hawaii. My inception started lifting… I opened the box and saw it was filled with goodies, one of which being a smaller box, about half the size of the big one. I made my way through the gifts, layer by layer. There were cards, a journal (for me to start writing poetry again), candy, our favorite gum, and finally, the bottom. I was then granted permission to open the smaller box. I noticed there was writing all over it, which I assumed to be Swahili and Luganda, and I asked Ken about it. He said, “I’ll tell you about that later.” “Umm hmm,” I thought, wondering how to play it, “I know what’s up.” On opening the smaller box, I found another box, bubble wrapped  and tissue wrapped. “So he’s gonna make me work for it, huh? Ok…” I unwrapped layer after layer, box after box, until finally, the one I was looking for. “I’ll take it from here,” Ken said with a smile. Then he got on his knee, opened the ring box and asked me if I would do him the honor of being his wife.

I’m not proud of what I did here, but let me explain first. I knew this was going to happen. We had talked about it, prayed on it, and I had been preparing myself the entire time leading up to Ken coming to Japan. I knew that by the end of his trip I would be engaged… but there was something about the tangibility of the ring that caught me off guard. I thought, “Oh my goodness!! This is really happening!!” And almost like I was in a trance, I started reaching for the ring, just to touch it, like a pinch to see if it was real. Ken said, “Kaila, you have to say ‘yes’ first!” “Of course!” I said, laughing. He put the ring on my finger, and that was that. :D

That wasn’t the end of the celebrating though. We spent the next day (Friday) hanging out at the shopping complex that was part of the Tokyo Disney Resort, ate Hawaiian burgers and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. Then we  made our way back to Wakayama, and arrived Saturday morning. We had just enough time to get unpacked, for Ken to write a paper, and then to get ready for my birthday party in Wakayama City.

I had the party at Mr. Magic, a great pizza restaurant, and the owner is amazing. Lots of the JETs came up for the party, and some of my Japanese friends came too. We ate pizza and pasta, my friend made a bomb German Chocolate cake, we laughed, Ken helped serve, we sang songs, celebrated my birthday and our engagement. Then, we ended the night at karaoke. It was beautiful.

Our gracious host Mr. Magic. (center)

As we talked over dinner on my birthday, I told Ken that this was the best birthday ever. I reminisced on all the birthdays I could remember, all the way back to my 14th. There was no comparison. As I went into it, 25 represented the end. The end of my adolescence, almost the end of my time in Japan… but it turned out to be a beginning too. The beginning of new adventures back home, of (finally realized) adulthood, of a deeper knowledge of myself, and of a lifelong partnership with a man who loves me, and who I love.

This is soo much better than an iPad.

Love > iPad.

Advertisement

Tags: Adventure World, Birthday, Japan, Japan Exchange and Teaching, Love, My Life, Relationships, Tokyo, Tokyo Disney Resort, Tokyo DisneySea, Travel, Wakayama

• 4 comments
• Posted under Life & Such, Relationships, Updates