5th of July BBQ

Austin’s co-workers put on a 5th of July BBQ for everyone who is here from their company. They called it a “Freedom from the British” BBQ because there are people here working on company projects from all different countries including Hong Kong, Canada and India. Landon and I participated in the festivities- Austin slept because he worked night shift the previous night and was going in for his final 12 hour shift before vacation.

Landon loved playing ball with new friends!

We headed to Nanji Hangang park which is right on the Han river. There are “Hangang” parks all along the river and all of them are a little different. This one was different in that it had a camping ground area. You paid to get in, and for a “camping” spot. You could rent a charcoal grill. The camping ground was basically a big field of dirt. There were pop-up canopies and picnic tables all over denoting the different camping spots. Koreans came with their hiking/camping clothes, their tents or mosquito nets, and always their padding for sitting on the ground. They mostly used the picnic tables for food preparation, but most ate their meals on the ground with the food on a low portable table. The camp ground had these cool handcarts to bring all of the gear into the campground, and there was a big sink area nearby for washing veggies and dishes.

Some Koreans came with gas burners and pots and pans to cook their meals. Some brought already prepared foods. Others used the charcoal grills to BBQ. The guys that put on the BBQ went to Costco. They both had never been before and bought a feast! We had brats and hot dogs and hamburgers and chips and salsa and potato chips and trail mix. I brought a watermelon and my 2nd attempt at making apple pie in the rice cooker. It turned out better than the first attempt, but still not exactly what I was looking for. I will probably try again sometime. After a few hiccups starting the charcoal and some help from friendly neighbors, we had our fire going and ate a lot of food. Landon played ball with the guys and walked around gathering gifts of candy, chips, and fruit from the people around us.

It was nice to eat chips and salsa- like Pace salsa from Costco. It was wonderful to have people to talk to who spoke English, and to put names to faces with many of Austin’s co-workers. They are often on opposite shifts as Austin so I see them around, but I’m never sure if they are actually with his company or not so I rarely come out and say “Hey! Do you work for this company????!!” Austin said I should just start assuming everyone is from his company.

After lunch and Landon’s nap in the stroller, a few of us decided to walk down the river and see if there were any water activities. I brought water stuff from Landon, but not for myself. We passed a packed section of the river that was roped off for swimming. You had to pay to get in, and we weren’t really keen on swimming in the river, so we kept going for a long ways. We found a cool splash pad. It was a little violent for Landon, but he still had fun for a little bit getting cooled off. It wasn’t super hot, but it was so humid that it is difficult to stay cool.

A view of our campground from our “spot”

After the BBQ, I felt better about how we had celebrated the 4th. I LOVE summer, and 4th of July is right up there with Christmas as one of my favorite holidays. Things that I need on the 4th usually include: Parade, hot weather, watermelon, popcorn balls, fireworks, and if possible, beach.

We are on Jeju Island right now- we just arrived and are hoping to have a few fun days outside before a typhoon blows through on Wednesday. So, I get my beach a few days late. That’s ok with me. Popcorn balls are replaced with these puffed rice stick snacks that are flavored lightly with honey and I love. Fireworks didn’t happen this year, but I enjoyed all the pictures on Facebook.