Happy Birthday 'Merica

Being abroad doesn't mean we can't celebrate our beloved homeland (well, the beloved homeland of most of us, but we're not picky and are willing to approve some honorary Americans). Even though I'm all the way in Hsinchu, I knew when Lom said he was having a Fourth party that I'd just have to take the high-speed rail so that I could help inaugurate my country's 237th year in style.

I hadn't been in Taipei long when the America-based excitement started. Steven--a true patriot--asked our resident artist Connie if she could draw an awesomely American tattoo on his bicep. If Connie had refused, the terrorists probably would have won then and there, but fortunately she has more sense than that. The resulting eagle, complete with American flag backdrop, made Steven a true paragon of American excellence (later, Connie would add some cartoonish chickens in a reference to a Chinese idiom, 鹤立鸡群, translating to "a crane among chickens" and having the meaning of standing out among the a crowd: Steven decided that he wanted his eagle to be one among chickens).

Tattooed and bandanna'd (and Steven having inflicted similar inking upon Connie's arm, though this eagle looks a bit more like one of the chickens), we were finally ready to partake in that most American of pastimes: beer pong. We actually opted for Taiwan Beer, reasoning that a true American wants the cheapest beer possible so it was actually a very patriotic choice. Now, apartments here are too small for large tables. The ceilings are fairly low. Plus we don't even have a table. Worst of all, we can't get red solo cups.

But we're American, and we can't let any of that stop us! The setup, then, consisted of a couple of glass tables propped up by books and DVD cases. Shockingly, neither glass table broke, though we had a couple of near misses. Here, Andi and Jenny play their first (and only?) beer pong game. They look a little too excited for people who haven't even started losing yet.

I am pleased to announce that Lom and I ended the evening with by far the best streak: we won four games in a row (which meant we played five games in a row: yikes!). Here, we give our best patriotic poses. The America bandannas definitely won it for us, and we have Steven to thank for those. Photo shamelessly stolen from Lom's facebook album, but oh well. Hopefully he won't mind.

Perhaps most importantly, we hit up McDonald's after the beer-pong tournament. We got a little lost getting there, and then in true American fashion we took a cab instead of retracing our steps like a reasonable person might do. Y'all know that I almost never eat fast food: it grosses me out with the overprocessed meat-bits and the grease and the way it would still look and taste the same if I locked it in a box for three years. But after a long night of America-celebration, McD's just felt right.

All in all: good America party. It was totally worth the effort of taking the high-speed rail from Hsinchu, which is where this tired but patriotic 'Merican is about to take a nap.