Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Celebrating the 4th Abroad

This past weekend was a great weekend to be in the good ole U.S. of A. People were grilling, going to the beach or pool, setting off fireworks, & general shenanigans in celebration of the birthday of freedom in the U.S. Needless to say, there isn't a whole lot of that in Denmark.

However, I did not let this holiday pass me by...Oh no. I did not. I was able to celebrate this great American holiday in the home of the American Embassador to Denmark. That's right. I got to be Ms Fancy Pants for the night. The Embassador hosted a private party for 1500 friends, family, dignitaries, diplomats, and me on Friday July 1st.

After passing through the receiving line where I got the Embassador herself, I entered her back yard to await the starting ceremony. The Marines presented their colors & admittedly, I was a little misty eyed as they marched along past me to the stage. The Danish & American anthems were played & a speach was given about the importance of freedom from sea to shining sea.

I did not know what to expect but I imagined this elegant catered event full of American goodies that were not readily available in the city of Copenhagen. But this was an AMERICAN party & what's an American party without showing our true love of capitalism. The party was sponsored by other businesses. Each business was able to put up a tent w/ their company logo & provided food & drinks accordingly. There were servers walking around w/ silver trays but take a guess what business they represented. If you happened to guess McDonald's, you would be right.

The McDonald's tent had coffee, soda, & chocolate muffins. The Domino's Pizza tent had..well..pizza. Ben & Jerry's and  Budweiser also had tents & the Crowne Plaza donated the wine. 

All in all, it was a very pleasant night & an experience that I will get to brag about for a long time to come. 

And in case you are wondering what I did on the ACTUAL 4th of July??? Well...I met up w/ an American friend, spent an hour trying to find an American restaurant for dinner only to walk almost 2 miles to get there & find out the place is closed (the sign w/ the explanation was in Danish so no idea why). We ended up at a Thai restaurant around the corner enjoying a yummy yummy Thai dinner. 

Ah, God Bless America. 

The Embassador

The Marines plus 1 Danish Soldier

Who knows who could've been in that crowd?