On April 24, my day of birth, I walked into school not expecting any kind of celebration. Little did I know what my community had planned for me!!
Birthdays! I learned that in celebrating birthdays in Malaysia, the community is a very large factor. It’s all about gathering together with loved ones and celebrating with food. When I got to school, my teacher who is also my mentor came out with a cake (it was yellow, my favorite color) and everyone in the teachers’ lounge sang Happy Birthday! It was really great to be able to share pieces of the cake with my fellow teachers and friends. After school, my students threw me a surprise birthday party! They made me cover my eyes and lead me to their classroom where they had set up everything all by themselves. They brought in a cake with candles, Nasi Lemak (the national Malaysian dish), confetti and balloons. It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me on my birthday! They put in so much thought and hard work into organizing this surprise celebration!
