Happy 4th of July to our American friends. As is our custom in Australia, we do everything at least a day before people in North America. However, in this particular case we actually celebrated the 4th of July on July 1, aka, Canada Day.
Not only are we members of the Canadian Club of Western Australia but, because we are so desperate for friends, we also joined the American Women's Club of Western Australia. Although it's called "American" it's actually open to Canadians also and there are quite a few Canadian members that belong to both clubs. As a matter of fact, we were told about the American club at a Canadian club gathering. Also, despite it being the "Women's" club me and the kids were also allowed to join.
Anyways, on July 1 the American club held their annual 4th of July celebration. While I've spent quite a bit of time in the US I've never lived there. But this event to me seemed very 'typical' American, although, having never participated in a 4th of July celebration in the US I can't say for certain.
There were some games for kids to play, a temporary tattoo booth, a hot dog vendor and a beer garden where they served American beer. Why anyone would choose to drink American beer over Australian beer (or Canadian for that matter) is beyond me. Also, they had a hall where they were selling American products which are difficult to come by in Oz, they were selling Barack Obama t-shirts and they had a raffle for the typical raffle-type junk. Also, in the hall they had most of the state flags, a confederate flag and even a Tea Party flag, ironically situated directly above where the Obama merchandise was being sold.
Here's some other 'Americana' that we experienced:
There were several US flags which was expected. What I didn't expect to see were at least two Confederate flags.
There were plenty of classic American cars on display including some muscle cars. Also, there were a lot of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Unfortunately, the cars and bikes brought their owners with them.
In addition to the muscle cars and Harleys, they had several restored military vehicles on display. One of which had three machine guns installed. Each of the cars had a little placard with the vehicles history in front of it. It was kinda cool in a "I'm glad that's not my hobby" sort-of-way.
There was lots of American food for sale. We tried to buy a pumpkin pie filling but it was $9 for one can so we passed. One of the novelties on sale were the donuts. In every major city in Australia there is a Krispy Kreme shop. Krispy Kreme is the American donut equivalent to Tim Hortons, for those that don't keep close tabs on the donut market. However, there is no Krispy Kreme place in Perth (or Western Australia). As a result, these "heart attack rings" are quite the novelty here. In fact, whenever someone from my office goes to Sydney or Melbourne they always bring back a couple boxes of Krispy Kreme, and it's quite the hit. Bloody arse-kissers. In this particular case they were selling a single glazed donut for $2.50 and a dozen for $25.00! I don't know if that's the regular price elsewhere or if it was the Perth American 'special', but either way it's highway robbery. There are many cheaper ways to have a coronary.
There was a band that was playing some American standards in front of another American standard: the biggest flag that could fit in a given spot. I'm pretty sure the band was composed completely of Australians and many of them weren't that keen about it. Australia has a love/hate relationship with the US. They love American culture like movies and TV but they generally don't speak highly of Americans. They rely on a US military presence in the region and participate in every US war but complain about the US empirialism with regularity. However, for a buck I'm guessing they swallowed their pride, parked "Waltzing Matilda" in the music case and did their best rendition of "Stars and Stripes Forever".
After a song or two and an auction a contest was held to determine the most patriotic-dressed attendee. I have no idea who won the contest as we'd had enough by that time.
So, to those that are so inclined Happy Independence Day! Keep your guns holstered, your beers cold and your fireworks at a safe distance!
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Minor point of interest: This is our 100th blog post. It doesn't mean much and it has no real significance. Just thought I'd share. If you've managed to read all 100 all I can say is "wow, thanks mom!"
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