CULP 1 THAILAND 2012: 4th of July!

Howdy All,

Happy 4th of July from Thailand! We spent the last two days in class talking about the history of and how we celebrate our Independence Day. It is weird to be on the other side of the world on the day our country was created, and we all missed it terribly.

However, we all still had a great 4th of July! Today was a study day for the AFAPS cadets, and therefore the students were not in class. In addition, the AFAPS cadre decided that we ought to have a day off to celebrate our national holiday, so it worked out well. We slept in a bit (wonderful) and then grilled out at 11 with AFAPS cadre. We bought hamburgers, hot dogs, and cokes. We had all missed American food. The hamburgers were a hit among both the Americans and Thais. Our greasy American cuisine was exactly what we needed to celebrate right.

The whole group was decked out in our most American attire. Many of us had bought shirts during the pre-deployment phase at Ft. Knox just for the event. One of the Thai officers supplied a grill and brought some chicken wings, fried bananas, papaya salad, and sticky rice (for what Thai meal would be complete without rice?). CDT Evans rigged up his laptop and played some American country music. So we ended up with a great little 4th of July party. We tried (with partial success) to convince the polite Thai officers to eat the hamburgers with their hands. Then we got on YouTube to listen to the Star Spangled Banner, so we could have a quiet moment.

With about 15 foreign officers and 11 CULP participants, it was a great party. We were all full by the end with just a few hamburgers to spare. However, the 4th is not a holiday in Thailand (though it should be everywhere), so the officers soon had to leave and go back to work. With the rest of our day off, some of us chose to go to the neighboring Army Driving Range. Although most of us had never swung a golf club before (a critical skill for an Army officer haha), we still had fun. However, in the middle of our time there, a huge storm rolled in. We tried to wait it out with more buckets of balls and then just huddling under the pavillion. Eventually we gave up waiting and ran through. All part of the Thailand experience!

All in all, the best 4th I could imagine away from the U.S. We missed our families, friends, and country, but the Thais made us feel welcome and it was great to be able to host them for once, after all the kindness they have shown us. We couldn't have asked for anyone better to celebrate our country with.

Again, Happy 4th to all our friends, family, and other readers back home!

-Andrew