I’m not exactly sure why, but the past couple of years a theme of my birthdays has been unsuccessful quests that ended up enjoyable anyway. Today has ended up much better than it began, and that’s a good thing. That’s not the point of today’s message, though I feel it necessary to at least comment on. At any rate, last year on my birthday (or at least the day after it, when I celebrated it) I was on an unsuccessful quest for socks in the Chiang Mai Sunday Market, a day I spent largely alone, which is rather depressing.

Today, though, I was treated by my coworkers (and one past coworker) to a dinner, for which I was very appreciative. There was a particular restaurant I had wanted to go to, but after we walked from the school a fair bit along the main highway, we found that the restaurant had closed at 4PM, as it was not a dinner restaurant. Fortunately, one of the other members of our adventuring party had been to another restaurant somewhat nearby, so we jaywalked across the highway and walked down the soi (street) to the end, where there was a restaurant. We figured that lights and a sign and some people milling about was a good sign, and it happened to be open. Even if they did not have any kow soy, and even though none of us could read the menu (because it was in Thai, except for two English words to differentiate between the different types of Chang beer, which the rest of our party enjoyed, as I’m not much of a drinker).

Being in an adventuresome mood, we picked a few items and it turned out that it was largely a success–some fried chicken (which apparently it was obvious that I liked, an unfortunate quality sometimes). The five of us enjoyed witty conversation and good food, and a lot of laughter and personal chatting, and it was a pleasant evening. Even if my spirits have been a bit down (I generally struggle to feel happy on birthdays, which I suppose is very unusual), I was glad that my coworkers were so intent on cheering me up and helping me to have a good time. I’m the sort of person who appreciates fun but has a hard time finding fun myself, so I am always grateful when others help out.

After we were done, and stuffed, after about two hours worth of eating and chatting, we walked home, and I found that I outstripped most of the others. Even though we had been unsuccessful in finding our original goal in food and restaurant, the company and the conversation and the quest was enjoyable anyway. Sometimes like can be like that–you may not find exactly what you’re looking for, but the journey is fun and exciting enough as it is that no one complains about it anyway. Not even me.