it's my last day as a teenager

I love being a summer baby. But it kind of sucks that I rarely ever get a chance to celebrate my birthday with my college friends, since we're always out of school come August 7th.

This summer, therefore, is pretty special. Not only am I turning 20 (CUE FREAK OUT!!!), but it's my first birthday away from home in a really long time. Not going to lie, whenever I imagined what it'd be like to turn 20, I never pictured myself in Viet Nam.

Anyway, last night the VTV 6 director wanted to take us out to karaoke, so all of us and the Vietnamese roommates loaded into three cabs and went over to the Old Quarter for some good old-fashioned bonding over bad singing/screaming. When I walked through the door though, I heard somebody shout, "SURPRISE!" and then realized that the music the people in the room were singing along to wasn't some Vietnamese pop song I'd never heard before but actually this really upbeat "Happy Birthday to you" song that I've heard about three times already at Solace (and once at the Loo, but who's counting). In the middle of the room were three cakes for me and Caroline (her birthday was this past Monday, but she was in Bavi teaching English then, so we hadn't had a chance to celebrate it yet): one with the traditional "Happy birthday, Caroline and Lucie!"; one with a little Vietnamese smiley face wearing a conical rice hat; and this beauty:

Translation: "Very beautiful, how much?"

LOVES IT. It was all so unexpected that I had even left my camera in my room, not wanting to have to carry a purse around all night. I'm a fool. But a fool with cake.