happy birthday

Patriotic American holidays like the 4th of July take on a special meaning when you’re far from home. It is like suddenly you wake up and realize exactly what they mean, and it’s NOT a day off from work or school and a bar-b-que. Still, I think foreigners may actually take our holidays more seriously than we ourselves do. When I was in Bosnia, I lived and worked with some British folks. When the 4th of July rolled around, we had a huge bar-b-que and fireworks. They went out of their way to make sure it was fantastic (though I think anything would have been great, as we had expected nothing). The British folks said some very nice things about our country, in spite of the fact that the whole point of the holiday is to celebrate gaining our independence from them. Many Japanese came to our celebration here. I must admit to being somewhat embarrassed. Our Japanese friends and guests regarded the occasion with such respect that they came dressed in full-on summer kimona, while the Americans were running around in T-shirts and shorts. I think everyone had a great time, though. The Embassy put on a big parade downtown, and right here in Sagami Hara we had live music, games and about 40 minutes of fireworks. My husband daughter and I were all together for only our third 4th of July in 14 years.

If the 4th is a holiday for you, I hope you had a happy one 🙂