Fourth of July, Kiel Style

Moving to a foreign country in your 30s puts you in a weird place psychologically. You are really not a native, so native culture is often lost on you. Yet, you really cannot celebrate your own culture as naturally as you would at home.

Germans just celebrated a slew of holidays. All of them religious in nature but few people here attend any religious service or activity. I don't get that but I took time off from work anyway. Ascension is always on a Thursday, so most people take off the following Friday. The day of ascension or Himmelfahrt is celebrated with a rush of people going out of town. The day is also the nation's unofficial Father's Day. Yes, Germany has a Mother's Day but not Father's Day. To honor the role of fathers, many men gather together and get drunk while strolling around town.

Pentecost or Pfingsten, the day that Apostles were instructed to preach the gospel to the world is celebrated with a day off from work.

In cities with large American ex-patriate populations, there are picnics and fireworks on July 4. I am guessing that there are about 200 Americans in Kiel, a city of 250,000. Although we are few, we are not united. Asmus and I got together and celebrated with cookout food cooked in our kitchen.

I made two kinds of potato salad. I made the traditional mayonnaise-mustard-relish-onion-green-pepper-boiled-egg version that I grew up loving. I also mixed up a batch of fancy tater salad that I fell in love with last Christmas at Asmus' mother's dinner on one of the Christmas days [There are two here]. There is dill and apples. I couldn't choose which salad was the best, so I had both.

Traditional potato salad on the left. Dill & Apple potato salad on the right. I made a more of the traditional one because I love customs.

Plus, corn on the cob, spare ribs and hot dogs. I had to search for spare ribs the way that we eat them in America, full of fat, but I got them and they were good.

Our Fourth of July spread. Notice the yellow and green cob holders. I hunted for those and paid the equivalent of $12 for four pairs. Money well spent.

It was quiet and a little chilly but it was my celebration.