Internationalmatt's Blog

4th of July Fun with Friends from Many Countries

me with our host Aynur

On the 4th of July I was invited to a party hosted by my friend Aynur from Turkey. It was fun to meet a lot of people and eat some good food. It was also a blast-pardon the pun- to watch people take turns lighting off fireworks. I met people from several countries at the party. People from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia, India, Iraq, Kurdistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Uganda and a few Americans as well.

Garret at the Grill

Aynur’s husband Garret was a chef at the grill. There was plenty of good food that people brought such as some curry chicken and rice, Turkish potato salad and much more. We had fun mingling and meeting each other. Aynur’s dog walked around to greet everyone and managed to get some food from a soft-hearted little girl.

It was then time to light off the fireworks and there were plenty of them. Most of the guests are Undergraduate or Graduate Students at UNL. As they lit off the fireworks the young adults turned into little kids for a while. It was funny as I watched a friend from Colombia who is working on her PHD get excited as she prepared to light a firework.

Jihan with her firework

As we were watching the fireworks, I met a group of Undergraduate students who are from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Sri Lanka. I asked them if they knew the famous words from the Declaration of Independence. One said “liberty and freedom” and I then shared with them “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights….. the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

After the fireworks were finished we had some spontaneous entertainment. Aynur’s two little nieces sang some songs for us. I taught one of them to say, “thank you, we will sign autographs out back”.

It was awesome to spend the 4th of July with new friends from all over the world. During the evening I thought about how what began on July 4th 1776, the cause of freedom and liberty, has spread throughout the world.

July 5, 2011 - Posted by internationalmatt | America to other cultures, Experiences of international friends, food, Holidays, international students, Turkish friend