Fourth of July is one of our favorite times of the year because David and I love America so much. It's hard to be so far away from home on the Fourth and miss so many of the traditional celebrations and festivities that accompany the holiday. It was especially sad that we didn't even get to sing any patriotic songs at church yesterday. (Because we're an "international" ward and not everyone is American, although I'd say over 75% of us are.) At the same time, though, living outside of America always makes me appreciate it even more. Despite what I saw during my graduate school years as academia's delight in disparaging America (past, present, and future), I have always steadfastly maintained my belief in American exceptionalism: that, in my view, America is the so-called promised land where we can enjoy our naturally, God-given freedoms and that our Constitution was a divinely inspired document written by men whom God raised up for that very purpose. That isn't to say that America is perfect or that there aren't terrible and tragic things in our past. But I also don't think that means that we are a terrible and horrible people now who need to repent for those past misdeeds.
This quote has always best expressed how I feel about America: "American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." -- James Baldwin
I think we need to understand the truth about our past but to still recognize that through it all, America is a pretty darn wonderful place to live. Sorry for the minor diatribe. I just really don't understand Americans who seem to have very little patriotic love for their country.
Anyway, we had an interesting Fourth of July. We started out by visiting a tiny little Korean ward in the northern part of Seoul (it's always interesting to see different parts of Seoul). A Chinese girl, who's in Korea studying Korean, was recently baptized and they wanted David to translate some things into Chinese so she could understand them better. David always loves the opportunity to speak Chinese although he said it made his brain hurt quite a bit since he had to recall a lot of words he hasn't used in a long time. We then went to our own ward (arriving a bit late). After sitting through part of a Sacrament Meeting in Korean, I was additionally grateful that we have an English ward here.
After church, David and I came home to eat dinner. I also needed to finish making the Fourth of July cake I had started making the day before. I saw this red, white, and blue cake and decided I wanted to attempt something similar. So I made a red velvet cake and a white cake (from boxes....I still think they taste just as good as cakes from scratch) and layered them to achieve a red and white striped cake look.
I used vanilla pudding in the center because I though using more frosting between each layer would be too much and I was right. The pudding tastes really great and doesn't weigh down the cake as much as 3 pounds of buttercream frosting would have.
I used a simple buttercream frosting recipe for the frosting (3 sticks butter, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 4 cups powdered sugar) and it turned out pretty great. (I have frosting problems so I'm always pleased when I make a semi-decent frosting.)
Then, I dipped a star and circle cookie cutter onto a plate of food coloring and applied it to the cake. It didn't come out looking as fun as the original cake, but I still really liked the effect.
And it tasted great.
Of course, David and I weren't about to eat this whole cake by ourselves (although, let's be honest, I could probably do it....) so we went to our good friend's house to share cake and watch the fireworks. They live on the 36th floor of a high-rise building that borders the base and we had a perfect view of the fireworks display with the added bonus that we didn't have to sit out in the oppressively humid air of Korea in order to see the fireworks.
This isn't the greatest picture, but it does give you an idea of our view. It was really cool to watch fireworks from near eye-level. I'm so glad we got to see them this year because we didn't get to watch the fireworks show last year (David was working).
David and I came home and finally sang the Star-Spangled Banner together. All three verses (the third verse is actually my favorite).
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Happy Fourth of July!
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