And there was much rejoicing (Kelly)

I was invited to a birthday party last Friday. One of my 5th grade classes was celebrating all July and August birthdays, and my July birthday scored me an invitation to the bash! (How convenient that we had just learned "when is your birthday?" in English class!). As my fellow honorees and I walked into the gym, we were greeted by clapping students and arcs of festive paper flowers. "What a party!" I thought to myself.
I soon found out, however, that this was actually more of a birthday ceremony. We four "birthday people," as we were called in Japanese, were asked to stand in front of the stage, and the rest of the class lined up in four lines facing us. And this is how it went down (don't worry, I'm providing an English translation). Imagine lots of long silences between the instructions. And keep in mind, these are cute little fifth graders.

Student 1: The birthday celebration is now starting. Please bow [the class bows].

Student 2: Now I will read the names of the birthday people. Each will be introduced in the order of his or her birthday [indeed, the four of us are introduced in order and we bow].

Student 3: Now Students 4 and 5 will lead us in singing "happy birthday" four times.
Each time, please insert the name of a different birthday person. We will go in order of birthdays.
[Students 4 and 5 tickle the ivories while Student 6 conducts the choir made up of the remaining
non-emcee/non-piano playing/non-"birthday people" people. We sing the song four times.]

Student 1: Now we will play the game.
Student 2: No! We must first present the gifts.
[The gift-presenters present their gifts, one by one...in order, of course. I receive a book of birthday letters, a plastic dolphin toy and a paper box full of origami.]

Student 1: Now, after an explanation from Student 2, we will play our first game.
[We play a rousing game of dodgeball for 5 minutes exactly, and then time is called and we're told that it's time for the next game. We continue playing, changing games every 5 minutes, until the end of the period].
Student 1: The games are over. Birthday people, please come to the front and share with us some closing words.
[Each of us steps forward, in order, and thanks the group, assuring them that we have had lots of fun].

Student 2: Birthday people, it is time for you to leave now.
[We march out, under the arches of paper flowers, and the class follows behind us].

Now, I've had plenty of birthday parties in my lifetime, but this was definitely my first time to have a (run-entirely-by-fifth graders) birthday ceremony.