22nd Birthday!

I would first like to thank everyone for all of the wonderful birthday wishes, it really means a lot hearing from you guys while I'm so far away from home! Happy Birthday, Jen!!! :)

So, I woke up, and at first it just felt like any other day. I really wasn't even sure if anyone even knew! My Taiwanese friend Apple came into pottery class and made me the Chinese Pizza I love so much [same dish that I've mentioned in previous posts.] It was absolutely delicious! I told her she needs to teach me how to make it pronto!

After lunch was studio, we were really busy figuring out how our designs would be built, how much materials we will need to make it... etc. Usually certain people are always talkative around me, but today in particular, most were pretty quiet. I figured they had gotten little sleep and were focused on the project at hand. One of my Taiwanese friends Kimmy got me an adorable "Love Cup" mug.


Another hour of work went buy and then I heard this roar....a crowd of 50 people started singing [even the people who don't speak English sang too!] I looked up and the first thing I saw was a gigantic tower of hard boiled eggs and a plate of cupcakes. I thought everyone had forgotten! There were cameras flashing left and right, and they gave me a huge card signed by everyone with some of the sweetest messages I've ever read!

I must explain that the hard boiled egg tower is no Taiwanese tradition. Apparently, my name in Chinese "Lau Liuen," sounds just like the word for a type of egg here... haha not many people can say they've had an egg cake before!

The surprises for the day didn't end there, oh no. On my walk back to the dorm, after Mandarin class, I was bombarded by a group of 6 of my most "talkative" Taiwanese friends [Page, Lesley, Mandy, Stuff, NoNo + Iris]. So we went to hang out in the lobby of the dorm. We got to the lobby and they surprised me with Ice Cream Tiramisu + a birthday collage with our pictures together!
I finally got back to my icy cold dorm room around 8pm and Flower [one of my Taiwanese roommates] Said "Happy Birthday,Lauren!" and gave me a sweet T-shirt with Chinese writing. It's so Asian, I love it!!

Around 11pm, my last visitor of the day was little Joy, I dont know what I would do without her! I thanked her for planning the studio festivities and for the unforgettable egg cake extravaganza.. haha. Words can't say how touched I am by all of my new friends. They have only known me for 1 1/2 months and have shown me more kindness than most people ever would in a lifetime. They are truly a giving culture with love in their hearts. I will never forget these wonderful people. :)

It was a spectacular day, my first Taiwanese Birthday! I will post more pictures as I find them, most everything that happened was a surprise to me!