I interrupt my “road dogg” travel series to wish all a very happy Fourth of July weekend!

Despite the lack of fireworks or a long weekend, celebrating the Fourth of July in Taipei has been a blast! We kicked off the festivities on Wednesday night at my good friend Graci’s house, prepping the pasta + potato salads, hamburger meat + desserts for our small Fourth of July dinner party. Then, after a regular day of Chinese classes on Thursday, Graci hosted the celebration, complete with barbequed cheeseburgers, Kettle Chips, Coronas + guac!

At this Fourth of July party, 4 Americans were outnumbered by 2 Aussies, a Kiwi, 2 Mexicans, a Brit, a Swede + a Belgian! Everyone brought food or drink to share. I made the delicious summer bread pudding that my mom usually makes (subbing nectarines for the raspberries that I couldn’t find), a playlist of songs that I figured one would hear at a Fourth of July BBQ (…in Brooklyn!), + headed over early to help prep the spread.

maggie decorating her flag cake/graci’s/july 4

the spread as the burgers were cookin/graci’s/july 4

We all had a wonderful time eating too much, sharing stories, singing + playing with Graci’s French bulldog, Yoda, who definitely won the Best Dressed Award for the evening.

On Friday night, keeping with the American spirit, I went to my first Taiwan baseball game with a group of students from my program. The game was at the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City. The Taipei Brother Elephants played the Tainan 7-Eleven Lions + it was a riot!

Despite the low attendance, the crowd actively participated in the game, cheering + keeping a beat with Taipei Brother Elephant (or Tainan Lions) tubes the whole way through. The game was super fast moving, the sunset beautiful + the food fabulous (I got a delish duck “burrito,” a hot dog (I mean, how could you not at a baseball game?), brown sugar + strawberry frozen yogurt +, obviously, Taiwan Beer).

There was even a horn section that played music throughout the game! Totally, totally fun + the Brother Elephants won!

the iclp crew

***

There have been a lot of very exciting (also frustrating things) going on Stateside that have caused me to think a lot recently about freedom + independence. Of course, the top political question on most people’s minds regarding Taiwan is: Will Taiwan ever be independent from China, or will the ROC + PRC undergo a process of unification?

Since I will not be in Taiwan for much longer, I have been thinking a lot about my play + the questions that I will ask during my interviews. I can’t wait to start speaking with Taiwanese folks about their thoughts about Taiwan. I know that there is so much for me to learn + share!

For now, I hope you all have a great, safe weekend full of fun, friends + food! I know Yoda got his fill!

Peace!

We ended up singing this at one point Thursday evening, such a lovely classic American standard. Enjoy.