First and foremost, I apologize for my blog absence! It has been a crazy month, and I’ve found it difficult to just sit down and write everything that has been happening. Classes are starting to come to a close, finals are just a few (terrifyingly few) weeks away, and the weather has become absolutely gorgeous. Well okay, sometimes its just humid and muggy and hot and fairly miserable, but at least it’s not rainy and cold anymore! Now to the post 🙂
On February 11, 2014, I turned the ripe age of 21 years old. In the US, turning 21 is generally a big deal. Over two decades of life successfully completed, and (finally) old enough to be treated as an adult. But let’s just agree that 21 is a big deal. Unfortunately, February 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina was very unkind. I spent my birthday at a dinner with a group of my friends and then went with two to the only bar that was open in town and we were home by midnight. Don’t misunderstand, I truly appreciated my friends taking me out. It wasn’t, however, the big celebration that so many come to expect.
One night at the end of February, I was at dinner with some of my Shanghai friends (see “Branching Out” post). We were there celebrating a friend’s birthday, and the subject of my 21st came up. I told them about traditions in the US, about how big 21 generally is and the types of crazy things people do when they finally reach the big 2-1. This was the end of February. 
Last Sunday evening, I was invited to a BBQ hosted at a rented house near the campus. To my surprise, a group of 25+ people were waiting for me! It was a belated birthday celebration and, with my arrival, 21 nationalities were represented 🙂 We sang, we played pool, we danced, we ate bbq, we played mahjong, and they were all there for me. It was such a fantastically overwhelming feeling! These folks hadn’t forgotten one of our first conversations, they had just been waiting for the perfect moment. Words cannot begin to describe how grateful I am to have such fantastic friends! 
Farr East Adventures 