If I could wiggle my nose like Samantha Stevens I would be home for at least 2 American holidays – Halloween and Christmas. They are my FAVORITE! A couple of weeks ago I decided that being in China was not going to stop me from having Trick or Treat. I got a couple of decorations from Metro (China’s version of Sams with lots of international foods) and started to advertise it to my classes. I explained that if you go out Trick or Treating you need a costume and a bag. Maybe about half of the 40 kids that showed up understood that part. I was really pleased that out of the 20 costumed kids some actually made their own. Did you know that Chinese ghosts are not like our American ghosts? Chinese ghosts have pointy hats and really long tongues and hop instead of walk – spooky huh! Besides the authentic Chinese ghosts we also had a cowboy straight from a Village People performance, a mummy, a cat, a soldier, a bunch of Mardi Gras party masks, a Santa Claus, and a baby (easiest costume ever – all he had was a pacifier in his mouth) Another part they didn’t quite ‘get’ was that it wasn’t a party. Trick or Treat to me always meant stopping by a likely ‘good candy house’ grabbing your candy and heading to the next spot to get more candy. But since I was the only house in town they stayed and took lots and lots and lots of pictures. Nathan and Elizabeth came down and helped with the ‘party’. Nathan was a vampire and Elizabeth was a witch with pink hair and funniest striped socks like in the Wizard Of Oz. Australian Ricky put in an appearance dressed as an Australian. The night ended up being a pretty good substitute for an American Halloween and all the kids left with a sugar high.
Side note: I’ve been here for eight (insert cuss word here) months and I still can’t order anything but dan chou fan (fried rice) without help. I just went down stairs to the restaurant to get a take out order of a really good noodle dish made from sweet potatoes. It is called “ro mo fen tiao”. I practiced the correct tones a bunch of times - my students said I was saying it right – but the restaurant help still didn’t or wouldn’t understand me. It must be the post Halloween let downs but this really upset me more than it should have or maybe it’s that time in my emotional cycle. I guess I have to watch the DVD City of Angels again. (insert another cuss word here)
