My First American Birthday 

The autumnal months officially started for me. It was the week of the 1st of October, my  birthday, which usually symbolizes the beginning of fall for me. But this year everything was different since I celebrated my birthday in the US. Looking at the weather, it didn’t seem to be fall at all.

So, here I was, wearing shorts and a shirt on the 1st of October and still sweating, whereas my parents in Germany were freezing in their sweaters and windbreakers. I assume that I was better-off.

My birthday started at 5.30 am, as early as never before. When my usual alarm woke me up, my phone was already exploding from all the messages that I got from my family and friends in Germany. Consequently, my day couldn’t have started better. I realized that even though I’m far away from home, my friends and family haven’t stopped thinking of me.

In a cheerful mood, I wanted to wake up my host kids but surprisingly, some presents blocked my way to their room. Flowers, a Navy sweater, chocolate, shampoo and other little gifts were standing in front of the stairs. I am still amazed and thankful for everything, because I haven’t expected to get any presents from my host family at all. Additionally, they also gave me some birthday cards from my family and friends in Germany that arrived the days before and that my parents had told them to hide.

After the perfect and unexpected start of my birthday, I followed my daily routine which was  especially fun because my host kids tried to be extra nice to make my day more pleasant. While they spent their time in school (it was the first time for a lot of years that I didn’t need to spend my birthday studying), I used my free-time to meet a friend for a birthday coffee. I also skyped with my parents at home who seemed to be more dissatisfied about spending the day without me than I was. Since my mum decided not to send me an unwieldy birthday present that I need to bring back anyways, she mailed me a wish-list. From now on, I have hard decisions to make because my mum promised me to cook everything that I write down on that list when I come back home next year.

On Tuesdays, the day of my birthday, my host kids usually have a late Soccer practice, so that I haven’t had expected anything else. I was still thankful for the gifts that I got in the morning when my host dad called me to pull the girls out from their Soccer practice. My host parents wanted us to come to my favorite Mexican restaurant to have a special dinner together. Surprisingly, they also invited my best friend Pauline so that we enjoyed a nice dinner together.

When I thought we would be ready to go home, the servants came to our table and sang a  Mexican birthday song for me. They also brought a delicious chocolate-birthday cake. Undoubtedly, it was the biggest birthday cake I’ve ever had.

As you can see, my (first American) birthday was a very special day for me and it was definitely better than I’ve expected. Of course, it was different from celebrating my birthday in Germany with all the people that I love. Nevertheless, it was an impressive experience and my fears of having a bad day full of homesickness didn’t come true.

Photos by: Till Westermayer {flickr}; Barry Silver {flickr}; Dark Dwarf {flickr}