The Jennifer Blogs

On the eve of my 36th birthday I got a much-needed ego boost!



Tonight on my way home from coffee with Beth, I stepped on the escalator behind a pretty good-looking guy. He didn't look Japanese, but I can't really tell you where he was from. He greeted me, but I didn't hear what he said. He said something else to me, but I couldn't hear him over the background noise, and I had to tilt up the front of my hat to see his face better, hoping that by reading his lips at the same time or judging his facial expressions I could learn more.



He had a very big smile on his face and was asking me questions I didn't know how to answer. At the top of the escalator, he kept talking to me. We stopped and he started saying, "France? Germany?" I finally figured out he was trying to ask me where I was from. I told him, "America." He smiled and repeated me, "Ahhh, America!" Then he put his hand to his face (to let me know he was talking about my face) and told me, "You are very beautiful." 



We went in opposite directions at Urayasu Station, and I walked off with a huge grin on my face.



All week I've been saying, "I can't believe I'm almost 40." Not that 40 is so bad, and not that I'm turning 40 tomorrow, but I am turning 36 tomorrow and that's more than halfway between 30 and 40. Thirty-five was halfway between and I was fine with that. But tomorrow means I'm closer to 40 than I am to 30. That's a hard pill to swallow.



Next time I attempt to talk myself back into that "I'm almost 40" self-pity, I'll remind myself that I got hit on! All the young, attractive, skimpy-dressed Asian women surrounding me, and this guy (who was attractive himself) hit on *me*!