July 4, 2015 - Happy Birthday, America

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

For the forth time in my life, I'm abroad for Independence Day. It's always nice to get together with my fellow countrymen and celebrate the holiday the best way we know how- with a delicious feast!

This week, my colleagues and I were approached by two of the M6 girls who are club presidents for the school's International Club. They invited us to come to their club meeting on Wednesday afternoon to speak about Independence Day and join the 4th of July party that they were throwing for us. I thought that was a really sweet gesture, because they know that we are away from home during a really important national holiday, and they wanted us to be able to celebrate it. They threw a birthday party for America, just for us!

At the International Club, the students gave a short presentation (in English) about Independence Day, then asked us to MC a US culture and history quiz. After that, we grilled up some barbecue kebabs, and presented a little bit about the history of the USA. I drew the map on the whiteboard, which was quite difficult. I'm very proud of myself.

attempting to draw the outline of a very difficult country to draw

The two presidents (both of whom study in my M6 Writing class) and club sponsors (three of the Thai English teachers) invited me to join the club on a weekly basis as a sponsor. I visited International Club twice last year and always had a fun time. The students in this club tend to be those who are better at English, which makes it a really fun club for us to join.

American culture quiz

Then on Saturday, the actual 4th of July, all the teachers from Prathom, Mathayom, and Vocational Campus joined together to celebrate at the all-you-can-eat barbecue party at Great American Rib, where I went for my first Independence Day in Thailand. Last year we weren't able to get reservations, but this year we were able to book a table indoors for all eleven of us!

all you can eat American BBQ buffet!

The restaurant, owned by an American, definitely caters to western tastes, and the barbecue was authentic American-style, complete with ribs, corn, cornbread, and apple pie. And did I mention that it was all-you-can-eat? For only 500 baht (about $15 USD) that's a good deal! They played American rock music and oldies, and it really felt like we were at a backyard barbecue back in the States.

Thailand is great, but on the 4th, it's nice to feel like we are home.

Happy 4th, everyone!

Great American Rib