A homey event

What do these things have in common?

*Nachos (I mean with real cheese)
*Pulled pork sandwiches
*Rootbeer floats
*Banana Pudding
*Reese's Pieces
*An enormous American flag
*Ordering in English (comfortably); being responded to fluently in English
*Having to ask if it's ok to pay in Won instead of American dollars
*Lots and lots of small white, black, hispanic, and other kinds of children

Have you figured it out? The answer is "things that Tori experienced yesterday for the first time in over a year." That's right! Yesterday, I went to Camp Humphrey in Pyeongtaek for the "Freedom Fest 2010" taking place on base. For the weekend, they opened up the base to everyone (everyone with an ID at least) and had lots of fun, music, fireworks, blow up slides and other things you'd typically see on the 4th of July. Last year on the 4th, we went to the beach, which was fine, and we had pizza, which was fine, and some people tried to set off some fireworks on the beach before the beach patrol came which was, well, at least entertaining. However, it just didn't quite feel like the 4th of July. But this year was different! I couldn't believe the amount of Americans I saw in one place at one time! Haha. And I have to say that I was quite taken back by some of the conversation I heard! When my friend was ordering banana pudding, the lady working behind the counter was kicking boxes around and such going "Where da whip cream at??" Haha...I looked at my friend Courtney and said "Wow....I'm so sheltered." So, all of this to say a couple things. First of all, I had a fun 4th of July. Second, I am a little tiny bit more prepared to visit America in a month. Next, as much fun as it is to experience large amounts of Americans together on a holiday, I'm glad I live where I do. Also, eating way too much food can be entirely too satisfying sometimes. And lastly, although I love Korea, I'm still proud to be an American, and I love celebrating my country with great food, great friends, and of course, things exploding...I mean fireworks. :)