July 4th as an expat is always interesting. And by interesting, I mean "dull". I always want to
do something, but I usually end up just making a flag fruit pizza and singing
the Star Spangled Banner by myself. It’s just about as boring as it sounds. This
year as July 4th was approaching, I kept wishing that there were
some picnic or barbeque I could go to. Then,
the day before, I decided to take the bull by its redcoat tails and organize my
own bash. I texted two American coworkers, and they were both excited too (I
had saved them from their own fate of lonely high notes), so it was set! One
girl brought her “native” boyfriend, who was at first apprehensive about being
around “all of those Americans”. I guess we’re a scary bunch, or she had
exaggerated the size of the party to him. There were three Americans and two “natives”,
including my incredibly supportive husband who was just as excited as I was
about the party. He even hooked up his laptop to the TV so we could watch youtube
videos of fireworks. On the menu were “grilled” burgers,
baked beans (with
bacon bits!!!), chips, homemade lemonade, and, of course, a flag fruit pizza.
I
had brought over some little flags a few years ago, and we did get a little
flag waving in during the fireworks finale.
Everyone had fun, and no one was
singing off key alone. This land was made for you and MEEEEEEEEE!
