July 4th Celebration

We had a good ol' American celebration on Saturday. Except, it wasn't in America. It was on a rooftop in Cheonan, South Korea.





We were able to hang out with another American couple, Victor and Katie, whom we met through the Nazarene Church's English service that we attend once a month.

And yes, I realize what an awkwardly long sentence that is.

Brandon and I brought watermelon which, um, yummy! Seriously, Korean fruit is grown locally and is only available throughout the growing season. Therefore, I am adding "most delicious fruit in the world" to the list of things I will miss when we go back home.



I also cooked a batch of fried apple pies because, well, what says "American Holiday" more than greasy, battered fruit?

Victor and Katie provided hamburger meat, hotdogs, sausages, corn on the cobb, and a yummy spicy slaw for which I will definitely be getting the recipe. We learned a couple things at this, our first Korean cookout.

1. Something to remember about making hamburger patties: when the internet says "make them larger to compensate for shrinking," it means the patties will shrink in circumference, not in height. As a matter of fact, they will grow in height. Do not make 2-inch-thick patties, thinking they will shrink to 1/2-inch-thick patties. You will only end up with 3-inch-thick patties.

2. Do not allow a two-year-old to eat said 3-inch-thick patties, smothered with ketchup, on her own. At least, not without a nearby hose pipe to use for the cleanup.

3. Hotdogs are delicious. Even if they do roll off the grill and onto the rooftop a time or ten.

After the mucho delisioso meal, we took a stroll down to the local store and bought some fireworks. Once it was finally dark, we headed back outside, and many adventures ensued.

Everyone had fun shooting roman candles off the rooftop. (Well, everyone except me because I might be slightly terrified of loud sticks that shoot fire which could potentially poke someone's eye out.)




And, of course, sparklers.



But, by far, the best part of the night was wrapped up in pink plastic petals. This was a "firework" (read: fancy candle) that we got for Chloe because we weren't sure how she would respond to the louder ones.

Theoretically, this "candle" was supposed to "bloom," spin around, and sing a "Happy Birthday" song while the wicks were lit. Apparently, we didn't follow directions (seeing as how they were written in Korean). Because this...



Turned into this...



Which lead to this...



Yeah. I think we all found our inner pyromaniacs that night. Great fun.

All in all, it may be one of the most memorable July 4th's I've ever had... second only to the one where I got a gushing bloody nose in the middle of a picnic, on my first "real" date with my middle school boyfriend. I was so cool, I wonder why that relationship never worked out...

Happy Belated 4th, everyone!!