Yesterday, as you may know, was the Fourth of July! Of course, it took me by surprise, as I’d nearly forgotten about this American holiday. I was reminded on Sunday by a fellow American. At which time, we also made plans to get together that night for dinner, drinks, and fun with other friends in Koga.

I arrived late, as it was a long day at school, but we enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner of spaghetti (compliments of Carolyn), and followed that up with wine and ice cream bars. It wasn’t long before the idea of buying fireworks came up. Naturally, nearly everyone was interested.

We hopped on our bikes, stopped at a convenience store for more drinks and a fireworks pack, and headed to the best open space we could find.

Despite being thousands of miles from America, it felt like I was home for this holiday. Sitting in the park (mind you- surrounded by rice paddies) we enjoyed talking, shooting off bottle rockets, and eating more ice cream.

Yoshiko and I even got our sparklers pack, complete with a set of special hello kitty glasses. Oh yea. I also tried a senko firework, which is a special, traditional Japanese handheld sparkler. You have to let it hang, and it’s really hard to get it to work properly (which is half the fun).

I even managed to return home at a reasonable hour.

To everyone who celebrated this American past time with me, thank you! It was a lot of fun! めっちゃ楽しかった！

Also: found this in the bathroom at the convenience store… too funny not to share:

Happenings
Listening: “Of Monsters and Men” – by Little Talks
Reading:  Higgs Boson Discovery – Mashable.com
Watching: Game of Thrones– Season 2
Eating: Mango (it’s finally in season!)
Seeing: Lighting outside my window