More days, more music. Emily B.A.P obsessed, Jacklyn NU'EST obsessed. And then... August--my sixteenth birthday party.

I received a call from my sister at the beginning of the month, from her apartment near her campus. I could hear her best friend yelling something in the background; Tessa, who I'd nicknamed my "unbiological sister", because she acted a lot like a second elder sister to me, and that I swore she was at my house just as much as my actual sister was. "Hey, Sibling. What's up?" I answered.

"I was just calling because I wanted to ask you for a favor."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? What kind of favor?" My sister and I had an incredible relationship, despite being three-and-a-half years apart. It was kind of weird. Most siblings fought and argued with each other, but I couldn't remember the last time Jackie and I had done those things seriously. I always laughed when I saw my friends argue with their brothers and sisters, because that never happened with us.

"Well, I was kind of thinking that I wanted to have an Asian food party. Like, everyone would bring a food from an Asian country. I can make Sushi and Onigiri! You could make your curry or something..." An Asian food party? Okay, I confess, she had my attention at the word "Asian." And  I didn't mind making my Japanese-style curry. I liked cooking, and the curry was delicious. More than that, I LOVED trying out food from other countries. However, I sensed that there was some kind of string attached.

"An Asian food party? Okay, that sounds cool. What's the favor?" I asked, expecting the worst.

"Well, umm..." I waited. "It's just that, you know, I want to invite a lot of people. Like James and Cat, and Tessa, and..." I knew those people. Cat (Catherine) had introduced me to manga through my sister. She'd actually given the bags of Japanese comic books to Jackie to read, but I always got bored during the summer, so read them long before she did. And I was hooked. James was one of my fellow Kpop-lovers. Actually, he had indirectly introduced me to it. I'd seen Haru Haru by BigBang long before my friends and I had had our New Years' "You're Beautiful" marathon, so I guess that's another reason why I wasn't so against watching the drama. Actually, he'd just com back from his trip to South Korea, part of the reason Jackie was thinking of having the party. Long story short, I liked the people my sister was thinking of inviting. I got along just fine with my sister's friends. Is that weird? Still, I was wondering where the "but" was coming in. It turns out I didn't have to wait long. 

"But, we all live in small dorms, so it would be uncomfortable to fit everyone. In order for it to work, we need a house with a big kitchen, so..."

"You want me to ask Mom and Dad if we can hold it here," I finished for her. 

I could hear her deflate over the phone. "...yeah." I rolled my eyes, not that she could see it. "It could be this weekend. Or-" she cut off, apparently having a better idea. "It could be your birthday party! That way you could invite all of your friends, too!" 

I thought about it. Actually, it didn't seem that bad of an idea. I sighed. "Alright, I'll ask."

"Thanks, Mel! I LOVE YOU!" she called over the phone. I laughed, putting the phone to my shoulder. I walked across the living room where my Dad was playing a video game (Mass Effect 3, I think), and Mom was working on her crochet. 

"Hey Mom and Dad?" I interjected, tentatively. My mom didn't even look up. She knew that tone. It generally meant that I wanted something. 

"Yes?"

"Well, Jackie was wondering if, for my birthday, we could have an Asian food party. ...Here."

I could feel my dad's distaste. My mom had grown up in Hawaii, so she had a pretty diverse state of mind. My father, however, didn't really like that I was so obsessed with Asia, and he didn't really like parties (Despite the fact that we had the perfect house for them). He was the typical American father: against everything different. Fortunately, I think he'd realized that nothing he said was going to change how I saw the world, so he'd started to give up on opposing me. He just said, "Are we going to have to feed everyone?"

"No, everyone's going to bring a dish. I'm making my curry, but that's about it." I waited for a response.

He continued to play his game, not really looking at me, but I could tell that he was thinking about it. Finally, "how many people are we talking?"

I counted in my head. Jackie, Tessa, James, Cat, Ashley, plus my firends... "About...nine?" I answered. 

"I don't think it's a bad idea," my mom commented. "After all, it's Mel's sixteenth birthday."

Finally, my dad caved. "Alright, fine. But don't expect me to help with anything. You have to do all of the cleaning and preparations yourself."

I nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, I will!" I put the phone back to my ear. Jackie had been waiting patiently for quite a while. "They said it was okay!"

"Great! I'll start calling everyone! Thanks, sis!" 

I smiled. "No problem. Talk to you later."

The preparations began quickly. We made a Facebook page for the event, and everyone who was invited. On the page, people posted what food they would be bringing, or what people wanted them to bring. Mom laid down one more limitation: no kimchi. Apparently her dad, my grandpa, had eaten the stuff a lot, so she couldn't stand the smell of it. Personally, even though fermented cabbage sounded just a bit gross, I wanted to try it. But I eventually had to give in. My mom had decided that if there was kimchi, there would be no party.

James was sad. He'd wanted to bring several kimchi dishes he'd learned to make in Korea, but when he learned the parameters, he gave in. Instead he'd decided to bring some kind of rice cake. Later, I got a Facebook message from him, asking if he could get to my house early so he could just make it there. I said it was fine so long as he brought the ingredients himself. 

"Great, thanks!" He messaged back, "It's a hassle to bring my dish fully made. Oh, and I'm bringing aloe water for a drink. It's all over South Korea." Aloe water sounded absolutely disgusting, but I decided to live by my pledge that I'd try any kind of food once. "Alright, James, see you on the fifteenth!" was all that I replied.

The morning of August fifteenth did not appear to want to be a good day for me. I was sick most of the morning, nearly throwing up multiple times. But it was too late to call off the party now. And everyone was counting on me to make the curry. People had told me that they were looking forward to it. So I went to the kitchen and started making it. It was slow going, though, because I had to sit down every few minutes because the pain in my stomach was so bad.

Luckily, my mom came home a little more than an hour before people were expected to start arriving. She saw me curled up in a ball on the kitchen floor and the curry not even halfway done, and put the pieces together. She set the bags she'd been carrying down and crouched down next to me. "are you feeling alright?"

I shook my head. "I have to finish this curry, but I can't seem to get very far because my stomach hurts so bad." I whimpered, close to tears. "James is going to be here soon to start cooking. I have to finish this so he has room to work, but it's my birthday, and I feel like crap!" I buried my head in my knees, fighting another wave of nausea. Finally, I looked up at my mother, and asked carefully, "Can you... help me finish this? I'm sorry, Mom, I really was going to make it myself."

She patted me on the back. "I know you were, sweetie. Alright, I'll help you, just tell me what to do."

I couldn't describe how happy I was. Deciding that the leftover ginger root from the curry made the perfect remedy for my stomach, she started to fry it in honey while she made the curry. While she cooked, I gave instructions from the ground, and when the curry had reached a break, she went to the bags she'd brought home and pulled a few things out. They were from World Market, a store I absolutely adored, but it was out-of-the-way for most of our routes, so we didn't get to go there very often. She pulled out a Japanese fan and a box holding some beautiful blue-on-white ceramic chopsticks, decorated with Asian dragons, and handed them to me. "Happy Birthday, sweetie." 

I had my own chopsticks now?! Cool! Quickly, I took them out of the box and fitted them into my hand. "Thanks, Mom," I said weakly. 

"Wait, I forgot something!" she checked the burner on the curry, then went into her bedroom, coming out with the copy of "Clockwork Prince" by Cassandra Clare, the book I'd been hungering after for a while, and handed it to me. "I didn't wrap anything, but I hope you like it." 

I took the book and hugged it to my chest. "That's okay, Mom. I like it." And I really meant it. 

Finally, all we had to do was chop the vegetables and meat, and put them in the curry. By this point, my mom had given me several pieces of the homemade candied ginger. The phone rang, and mom was busy, so I went to look. It was my firend Eliz. 

"Hello!" I said in as much cheer as I could manage through the nausea. 

"Hey, Mel, it's me. I was just wondering if I could come a little early, since it's just me right now, and I'm kinda bored." 

"Yeah, it's fine. What are you bringing? I never saw you post anything on the facebook page..." 

"Yeah, about that..."

"What?"

"Well, I was looking through my house to find something to make, but the only Asian-y things I could find were a half-empty box of expired Minute Rice and an empty bottle of stir-fry sauce." 

I couldn't help myself. I laughed. A lot. And for the first time that day, it didn't make me want to throw up. "Oh my gosh, Eliz, you just totally made my day!" I laughed, crying because I was laughing so hard. "Sure, come on over!" (Not a very difficult task for her, since she lived right next door). I hung up the phone. Suddenly, the pain in my stomach was all but gone. I'm not sure if it was the candied ginger or Elizabeth's plight, but I was much better.

"Mom, I can take over now!" I said cheerily. 

The curry still had a ways to go when Eliz arrived. James wasn't long after her. And then Cat. And Ashley. Before I knew it, people were packed in my kitchen, cooking away. Did ANYONE actually make their food ahead of time? I was stirring the curry. Mom was mixing my birthday cake. Jackie and Tessa had taken over the sink area, making sushi and onigiri. I had never seen my kitchen support so many people cooking at once. And yet, it wasn't uncomfortable at all. Eliz, apologetic over not having brought anything, helped Cat by peeling carrots. The space in my kitchen and dining was used to every possible advantage. There were two rice cookers running at once, four people working on the counter in the center of the room, two at the stove, and a few people mixing ingredients on the dining room table.

It was actually a very, very comfortable and fun environment. Meanwhile, my other friends, who had already finished their dishes (Because they brought them ahead of time. College kids, I tell you), were in charge of music. Kpop, Jpop, and Cpop fueled our preparations. There was a point where Jacklyn was flipping through songs, and I heard the beginning of "All My heart" by Super Junior, and then suddenly I was hovering over her (She's taller than me), growling, "You skip this and you die."

Finally, after several hours, every dish was on the table. Japanese sushi, onigiri, miso soup, and my curry with plenty of rice, in addition to the pocky (Japanese stick candy that once you start eating, you can never seem to stop) that Emily had brought. Chinese fried rice, stir-fried vegetables, and snow peas. Korean flower-topped rice pancakes and aloe juice (Which turned out to be delicious. The bonuses of being willing to try anything). So much food... we were all exhausted from cooking, so we were pretty eager to eat it. A warm room in the summer, filled with friends that actually understand my obsession.

And, of course, Tessa went around putting the leftovers from James' flower-topped rice pancakes into EVERYTHING. She decorated my cake with them. There were marigolds in the curry, in the miso soup; in my hair. Either way, it was one of the best birthday parties I'd ever had.

Even clean-up was fun. You'd think that college students would ditch and leave me to clean up after everything, but, in fact, they REFUSED to leave until every dish was washed, every bit of leftover food packaged properly, and the floor was swept up of flower petals (Partly because they felt so bad for making such a big mess). 

Finally, everyone trickled out the door, my sister last. Before they left, I had the promise of a hand-drawn Ouran High School Host club fanart from Ashley for a birthday present, a pair of hairsticks from Alison, money and candy from Jacklyn, Eliz and Emily. Just a little, but it was to get me started on my Super Show fund. I was saving money so I could buy the DVDs of Super Junior's concert tours. 

Okay, so it's not your typical "Sweet Sixteen" birthday party. But who cares? It was awesome. and it was the people at that party I would come to rely on when my life got more and more twisted into the Asian pop world.