Well past a Christmas cake

Well, no matter what time zone I go by, I have officially been on this earth for three decades now. It seems a LITTLE strange, I will admit. Thirty used to seem so old! When my mother turned 30, I was already 4.... Yes, I know that times are a little different now, but it's still kind of a milestone in its own right.

In Japan, there is a name for 30 year old women who are still single, since that is the age the Japanese feel women should be married by. The media has labeled these women “make inu” (read mah-kay ee-nu) which directly translates to mean “the loser dog”. Arf! The marrying age limit for women used to be 25 and they used to call women who were still single at 25 "Christmas cakes"... something about Christmas being on the 25th of the month and in Japan, Christmas is a "date holiday" so obviously if they were single they would have no one to share their Christmas cake with. (Stay tuned til December for more about the Japanese custom of Christmas cakes, if I have not already told you about it!) Nowadays, there are many unmarried Japanese women in their late 20's and 30's, so that stereotype is changing, but it's still a very traditional society that believes that women cannot have both a career and a family.

Perhaps I believe I am somehow exempt from this stereotype because I am not Japanese, but of course I know we have kind of the same way of thinking in Western culture. Turning 30 has somewhat of a stigma, too. And even though I do not have have a significant other, children, career, mortgage, or even a car (things that most people my age DO have) I at least feel like I'm moving in the direction I want to be and that in itself is a positive thing.

Somehow I think that turning 30 in Asia is easier for me than at home because I am surrounded by friends who are in the "same boat" as me, still single and fancy-free. I definitely don't feel 30 (whatever that is supposed to feel like!) and it's pretty cool to think of all I've done in 30 years of life so far.

On my birthday here, I enjoyed my day off from school. I went for a walk at my nearby park in the morning, talked to my family on the phone, then I headed downtown for a Thai massage. It's too bad Thai massages aren't more popular in the U.S., because I far prefer them. There is no oil involved, just pressure, and a lot of it. OK, they hurt a little, and they're not particularly relaxing but your body definitely feels limber again afterwards. There is nothing like the feeling of someone massaging inside your shoulderblades with their knees & feet! I actually have bruises from my massage today...

Afterwards, I had a nice steak dinner with Takuya (yes, for enquiring minds, we are still kind of together...) It wasn't anything fancy- but believe it or not, steak is not easy to come by here. My favorite steak restaurant just happens to be kind of like a Ponderosa with a salad bar, which is very, very rare in Japan. We also caught a movie at the "late show". The "late show" (after 9) is at a bargain price of 1200 yen, about $10. Normally movies are around $15 in Japan! (So think twice the next time you start to complain about the prices of movies there!)

Belated birthday shout-outs to to Melinda (whose 30th was the 9th... she always has to beat me at everything!) as well as Matt (whose birthday was also on the 10th), Cally (the 3rd) and Jess (the 2nd) who have not yet crossed into the new decade. Libras Rock!!!

The Japanese believe that your birthday is the day to express gratitude to your parents for bringing you into this world... So, THANKS, MOM & DAD! You had no idea what you were in store for, did you?! :)