It Is Nice to Have Friends

A propos of some conversation we were having about gift giving and birthdays, I mentioned to my friend Lane at the beginning of the week that my own birthday was just around the corner. They asked whether I liked birthday parties, to which I replied that I did not like them particularly, after which they asked if I liked surprises. I said no, but I don’t think I was very convincing. Who does not enjoy receiving spontaneous displays of affection?

Anyway, on Friday, as we were walking into our Classical Chinese class, Lane ran off – I originally thought to the bathroom – and re-emerged holding a big box bearing the name of a local bakery. What particularly touched me about the gesture was the fact that Lane remembered my love of chocolate when they and Jacob were buying my cake. We shared the cake with our teacher too, who was apparently in on the surprise, and who spent several minutes explaining Chinese birthday customs.  

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