Let's Get Patriotic

The US Consulate threw a big 4th of July party for the Americans in Chiang Mai. You needed a US passport to enter the exclusive party, and over 1000 people showed up. Where did all these Americans come from? It was a little bit of culture shock entering the Consulate walls. Large, loud, white people everywhere. Rude little children running around. It really felt like America. Look at the picture. America practically threw up in Chiang Mai. There was a live band and lots of food and beer to be consumed. It was catered by none other than McDonalds. Not joking. Starbucks was also there, as well as Subway. It was the first time I saw a Budweiser in Asia. I opted for the Chiang Mai version of America's finest burgers and dogs: Mike's. Their tagline is 'Have a freakin good day.' How can you go wrong with that? I definitely felt a little less homesick while eating a chili dog, fries and a milkshake. Yay America.

After eating our greasy food we just sat in the grass and enjoyed the live band and the retired ex-pat DJ who probably has only this one gig every year. Then everyone got on their feet and sang the national anthem and at the last line of the song a boom of fireworks went off overhead. The fireworks were fantastic, and as they were shooting off just meters away I realized I was back in Thailand. The Thai don't really worry all that much about safety precautions. The explosives were going off from the street just in front of us. Closed roads? Caution tape? Fire truck standing by? I don't think so. One of them went off pretty low and everyone on the ground flinched a little bit expecting to be hit with a burning ember. The other odd thing is that this party actually took place on the 3rd of July. I think the Consulate employees just wanted the day off on Friday. Again, that's the Thai way to do it. I added the rest of the photos, and you can view them by clicking on the link to the left.