Hello. It's my birthday today. I am 22/二十二.

I'd actually forgotten until yesterday evening when I saw the date on a news article. I'm usually apathetic enough towards my own birthday as it is nevermind being in a foreign country with a broken leg. I was awoken from my slumber once again with an orchestra of air raid sirens but I dismissed them and stayed in bed. I never gave myself enough time to have a shower (it's an image of dignity I assure you) so hobbled off to work.

I finally got a cast on my leg/ankle on Friday morning. I'll have it on for 4 weeks so it isn't too long but still annoying. The pain went away yesterday and I think most of it was from the swelling around the whole ankle. I just sat on my backside most of the weekend perfecting my football skills on the Xbox. Although the initial day of the still broken leg, frictionless crutch and heavy rain have traumatised me slightly. The worst was when I slipped in the toilet (note: not actually in the bowl) at about 5am in the morning. There's a little ledge guarding my small bathroom and the useless crutch just gave way trying to maneuver it. This meant the entire weight of my body landed on my still broken leg (I felt the bone move again) and my whole body just collapsed into a depressing pile of woe. I'm pretty much thinking about it all the time and forcing myself to think "left foot first left foot first". The prospects of rain and stairs now fill me with despair.

Things picked up at work today just before lunchtime when I got a parcel of gifts from my aunt. I missed school lunch because I can't be bothered with the calamity that it will involve so I went to a cafe. After that I went to a bench near a fish pond and opened them up which was nice. Despite the occasional laugh directed at me when I hobble (it's some non-malicious/uncomfortable/not sure what to say Japanese reaction) everyone was pretty nice at work. Just as I was packing up to leave they turned off the lights and my old supervisor Chika (an exceptionally kind person) brought me in a birthday cake. Now, it might be my sluggish nature due to the painkillers but I honestly didn't process the situation at first and was wondering what the hell was going on. So everyone sung happy birthday to me and gave me some Glenfiddich whisky because I'm/it's Scottish and great.

I've always hated having birthday stuff and being the focus of attention... and even though there was a bit of shyness I was genuinely touched. It's the most powerful effect a birthday song has had on me actually (not exactly hard). It's like weeks of my petty moans/irritations vanished and I was left with a mild feeling of guilt for not thinking kinder of my colleagues.

Anyway, I'm still at my desk an hour after work because I have an adult class in about 25 minutes. There was no point going home for an hour just to deal with the dreaded stairs. I hate stairs.