Nine hours before clocks in the United States indicated it was the Fourth of July, a group of University of California students in Sweden fired up their barbecue to begin celebrating the holiday.
“We all wanted to celebrate Fourth of July since it’s such a big holiday in the States, so why let being in Sweden stop us?” said Karen Paulson, a third-year anthropology student at UCLA who is studying in Sweden, via e-mail.
The Fourth of July may mark American independence, but for American students studying abroad, as well as foreign students at U.S. universities, the holiday can become a more inclusive, international affair.
Paulson said UC students in Sweden tried to replicate their Fourth of July traditions, such as grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.
“We thought we’d just bring it to Sweden and enjoy the holiday, regardless (of not being at home),” she said.
She added that a number of Swedish students, as well as program supervisors, attended the students’ celebration and participated in the American customs.
“Our Swedish family tried to be as American as possible that day,” she said.
Some international students spending their summer in the U.S. also dove into the holiday.
Ali Lennox, who studied at UCLA this year but will return to the University of Manchester in England this fall, spent his first Fourth of July on a road trip with friends.
After spending the morning at Crater Lake National Park, Lennox and his friends drove into Portland, Ore., to commence the holiday festivities, which consisted of a barbecue and missed attempts to see fireworks.
Though Lennox incorporated some common Fourth of July traditions into his road trip, he said the holiday was more subdued than he had expected.
“It actually wasn’t as great as I was expecting,” he said.
Lennox and his friends kept track of how many American flags they saw displayed during the day, reaching “50-something.”
“(But) I actually thought I’d see more,” he said.
Lennox said one of the things that surprised him most about the holiday was the way it was observed.
“I thought I’d hear some talk, on the radio or the news or something, but I didn’t really. I thought it’d be more dead, with everything shut down, like Christmas,” he said, adding that no holiday in Britain is celebrated the way Americans celebrate the Fourth of July.
“There are bank holidays ““ a few random days when everyone has the day off,” he said.
“But there’s no tradition where everyone goes to the beach and sets off fireworks.”
Rajan Dhungana, who graduated from UCLA this spring but is originally from Nepal, noted what he called the standardization of Fourth of July celebrations across the country.
This year was not the first time Dhungana had celebrated Fourth of July in the U.S., and he said each year the same types of celebrations seem to dominate.
“Just the standard barbecue, Redondo Beach, watched some fireworks,” he said of his own celebrations.
“It’s almost like there’s only one way to do it. There are parades in some places, but those are few and far between.”
He compared American Independence Day festivities to National Day celebrations in Sweden, where he had studied for a period of time during college.
“It’s pretty much a lot of flag waving,” he said of Swedish celebrations. “(In America) the whole independence thing is a little less ritualistic.”