I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that everyone from the US had a wonderful 4th of July celebration and all the Canadians had a great Canada day! Independence day is one of my favorite holidays and it goes back to my early childhood and love for fireworks. Each year my Dad, Brother and I would go firework shopping and buy a ton of fireworks. On the 4th we would shoot about half of them off, but save the rest for random weekends throughout the rest of the year. Since we lived on a 6 acre lot, my house was the place to be for year round fireworks with all of my friends. This all stemmed from my boyish pyro obsession I guess, but later grew to become one of my favorite holidays. Getting together with family and friends to BBQ, drink, and just have a patriotic celebration made it a great start to the summer.
In the past 5+ years of being abroad, 4th of July was always fun, but it was always lacking fireworks since they are a lot harder to come by in other countries. Luckily this year I thought ahead and bought some (legally) off the internet. I purchased 15,000 won of fireworks and was really excited to drink a few Buds and light off some fireworks with friends. The 4th rolled around and we went to a new burger place near the back gate. After stuffing ourselves with hotdogs and hamburgers we headed to Chonnam University to light off all of the fireworks. The weather was perfect for sitting outside to enjoy a few explosions in the sky. The fireworks went a bit quick, but it was a lot of fun and it was great to share this holiday with my foreign and American friends!
After Friday’s celebration it was time for another housewarming party for one of my classmates. Him and his family recently moved into a new apartment and welcomed all of us over for dinner. I headed there with a few classmates and we brought a cake, flowers and tissue paper. The tradition of bringing toilet paper and dish detergent is still a bit strange to me. For example, in Korea for a “Jipdeuri” (집들이) or housewarming, it is common to bring tissue or toilet paper and detergent. The tradition of giving tissues is so their future will unravel smoothly and everlasting. The significance of the detergent is so their wealth will keep growing like soapsuds. I found it a bit strange at first to give someone toilet paper and detergent, but I guess it is more practical than some other gifts.
My friends apartment was really nice and shortly after arriving it was time to crack open some German wheat beer and Soju. The food served was an assortment of pizza, raw fish, salads, chicken and much more. We had a lot of toasts and chowed down until it was time to go to the second house party. This party was more of a gathering and BBQ to catch up with some friends. The weekend was a lot of fun and I am thankful my 4th weekend was full of great people, BBQ, beer and FIREWORKS!
