Hi Everyone
11/11/11 is a numerical palindrome. It was also my birthday.
In China it is a special day called Singles Day (Guang Gun Jie) and is sort of a pop culture festival popular with young people. This year was rare as there were 6 ones so it was dubbed SHEN GUN JIE（rare singles day）
The day began with my cell phone being inundated with birthday greetings. My students in both my classes that day presented me with gifts and a birthday cake (see pic) .
That evening at our regular Friday night English corner I was given a surprise birthday party by the ELA (English Lovers Association). It was truly amazing with more than a hundred students singing happy birthday Stephen as I entered the student canteen. A huge cake appeared, and balloons and confetti floated down from the ceiling. I was almost speechless.
The students then proceeded to lead me out to the sports field where they had arranged my name as well as a huge heart using more than a hundred tea lights (see pic).
I was not only speechless but almost breathless. Under the bright full moon I then lit sky lanterns (Kong Ming Deng-see pic) which drifted gracefully up to the sky carrying my birthday wishes.
On Saturday evening, Wendy and I held a joint birthday party (see pic) with some of our close friends (Wendy and I share the same birthday). Our dear comrades Anna and Ray prepared a key lime pie and a strawberry cheese cake for the occasion (see pic).
This is no mean feat as cheese and limes in China are almost impossible to find. In addition there were birthday quizzes with prizes and a PPT presentation which included greetings from friends abroad.
This date only occurs every one hundred years. I won’t be around for the next one but I will remember this one for as long as I’m still kicking. . Shengri kuaile
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