Mein Geburstag

Hani Novita (INA AFS to Switzerland YP 17–18)

This story is one of the experiences I like best, very much to my liking. I like it so much because the first time I thought about it, I thought that day will not be a memorable day, but I was wrong. It was a very memorable day for me. The day that everyone waits for, that day is the day you were born and start your life. And this is a story about that.

On the day before my birthday, I was very much waiting for what will happen tomorrow. I imagined that it will be normal and nothing memorable or special. And in the morning at the 15th of November, I woke up early and got ready for school and then went downstairs, and there are already cakes and presents as well as birthday decorations. It deeply moved me, and seconds later my host mom came out of the room and said happy birthday to me and hugged me, it felt like hmmm I’m so happy. I had to cry at that moment, everything I imagined was not true, it was the opposite of what I thought. They really regarded me as their biological child and gave me care and affection.

After hugging and blowing a candle, a few seconds later Krystal (exchange friend who lives together with me) dropped down and gave me a snowball present in which there was a beautiful swiss traditional house and swiss cow house with a “Switzerland” writing underneath. It was a beautiful and precious gift, and I thanked him and embraced him. And after that we had breakfast as usual and discussed about the event that I will make Friday, we discuss about the food we will make and how many will come to the event at Friday,17th November. Not a few minutes later, my host dad came out of the room and wished me a happy birthday while hugging me. And that morning, was a very memorable morning and a beautiful memory.

After breakfast, I went to school with Krystal as usual. Again I thought that school would be normal and no one would remember my birthday. I went to school as usual with a bus, then train and then walk to school. I always spend an hour to travel to school, it’s really tiring and far away, but now it’s become my routine and everything is going well.

I reached the bus stop near the school and then I went up the stairs to my beloved school hahahaha. I climbed the stairs energetically that today would be a good day and full of impression, then a few seconds later my two classmates came and hugged me from behind while saying “Alles gute zum geburstag Hani”, and it really made me feel moved and I hugged them while saying “Danke schön”. Then we went upstairs and went to the math class. We sat in front of the classroom because the class key was held by the teacher who was teaching in the class.

After waiting for 10–15 minutes one of my friends came and hugged me saying “Alles gute zum geburstag Hani”, after they hugged me, they took something out of their bag, and it was a gift. They say “Dies ist ein Geschenk von uns, sorry wir können nicht zu Ihrer Geburtstagsfeier kommen” and I replied “das ist okey, Danke für das Geschenk”. And we hugged each other again.

I went to school as usual. After I got home from school, I rested for a while, then my host mom came and said to me “we will go to dinner today with father and Krystal at 7 pm” I then replied “wahhh cool, okeoke mama, I’ll get ready now then “and my mom replied again “okay Hani, at 06:45 you should be ready and we will leave”. I immediately rushed to my room and got ready to go. After I was ready, I went down with my mom and Krystal. We went to the restaurant, but we only went there because my father was still stuck in the streets and mom decided to meet directly at the restaurant.

Arriving at the restaurant, we went in. Lapse of a few seconds my father finally came and hugged me also say happy birthday again. We sat down at one of the nicely decorated tables. It turned out my mom has prepared everything, and it was really sweet.

We sat down at the table, and the waiters there gave us a menu. We decided long enough about what food we would eat, it took 15 minutes just to choose food hahahah, but finally we know what we wanted to order. I ordered a tuna pizza, my mom and Krystal ordered one pizza and shared, they ordered a Margaritha pizza, and my dad ordered a beef steak. After everything was finished ordering, we waited about 20–25 minutes.

While waiting for the food to arrive, I opened the gifts given by my brother, mom and my father. I opened it so impatiently. Upon opening, it turned out to be a bracelet from my father, a sticky note from my brother, and a bowl to make a chocolate fondue from my mom, also a birthday greeting card from my mom and dad in German and its contents deeply moved me.

After 5 minutes the food came, and we ate. After we had eaten, we chatted briefly about school, friends, vacations, and more. After that long conversation, my father went to pay for the food, after he came back we sat down again for a while, but soon a waiter came with a cake and they sang happy birthday for me. I could only smile embarrassed at that moment. The cake given to me was decorated in the shape of a swan. Then, we ate the cake together even though it was just a small piece of cake.

But there is one thing that made me startled and laughing, that the cake we are eating now is the cake that was at home, my mom said she cut the cake and covered the truncated cake with plastic and paper on it so I did not know it. It was the sweetest thing my mother did to me, and I also did not realize that it was happening. We laughed together, at first I did not believe it because when I came home from school the cake was still fine and intact. But it turns out my mom cut the cake before going to the restaurant. My mom also asked “did you smell the cake when I made the cake yesterday?” and I replied “no mama, did mama make this cake yesterday? I did not smell anything at all “then my mom replied “good, mama was very afraid you would know when mama bakes a cake. After mama finished making the cake, mama sprayed perfume all over the kitchen so as not to smell the cake, because the aroma is strong” and my father also replied “mom kept the cake in our room in the bathroom so as not to get caught hahaha” then I replied again “huh? Is that true? Hahahah” then my mom replied “yes we kept it in the bathroom hahahah “,Then we laughed together hearing the story. After we finished everything, we went home. Arriving at home I immediately rested.

2 days passed after my birthday, and Friday came, the day where my birthday party is held. I went to school as usual and went home early because there were only 5 lessons that day, that were 2 hours Geography, 2 hours ​​German and 1 hour French language. Since I did not attend the French class, I went home at 11:40, but if I went to French class I would be home at 12.30. I rushed home too, because I had to prepare the decor and some food to eat for the event later.

I made bakwan, and roasted chicken, I also baked potato as the dish. My mom also prepared some desserts such as brownies, chocolate, and chocolate cake. I was so very busy at the time, I only had 3 hours to prepare everything. After I prepared the bakwan dough and also prepared the baked potato and chicken, I immediately rushed to clean my room and bathroom. I was so fast and nimble like a robot hahahahah, it just took 1 hour to clean it.

After I finished everything I rested for 45 minutes. 45 minutes are so precious hahahaha. 45 minutes passed, I started frying the bakwan and put the potatoes in the oven. Then, after the cooking was over, I started to set the table. Then I rested for a bit, while waiting for the show at 18:30, because I had to pick up my friends at the bus stop.

By the time it was 18:30, I went straight to the bus stop to pick them up. When I arrived at the bus stop, they had not arrived yet, but after 5 minutes the bus arrived. They got off the bus and hugged me, they also gave me a gift. And because everyone has gathered, we headed towards my house.

When we got home, we started to sit at the table that has been provided and started dinner. We talked a lot about things like scouts, schools, languages, songs, and so on. After we finished dinner we took pictures together. After the photo session was over, we ate some dessert and some snacks. We spent the night telling stories and laughing together. THE END

It was a very beautiful night, sweet memories etched into my life book sheets. They are true friends who try to be there for me on my special day. I hope they will also remember this.

LOVE YOU