Happy Halloween!!!!

Halloween here was awesome. We dressed up on Friday for classes with the kids. After teaching only 3 classes, we got our classes back, and once the bags were decorated the Trick-or-Treating started (or the madness as it is more accurately titled). It was so funny to listen to the kids try to say Trick-or-Treat, and they kept coming back over and over for more candy. Next we did the donut on a string game, a game that is a little lost on the Chinese because the donuts here leave a little to be desired. Anyway it was hilarious to watch the kids try to eat the donuts. Some of them were concentrating so hard, but they just could not manage to succeed at getting the donut into their mouths. There was a little sprinkling of sugar on top of the donuts, really not much at all, but the kids still managed to have sugar all over their faces. It was a really fun day.
That night we had the big party at the bond office with all the kids and their parents. The kids performed some songs we taught them, and then we performed “Thriller.” Then it was time for the main event… the Haunted House!!! We spent many afternoons for the last 2 weeks slaving away in the dusty rooms at the bond office building a SCARY Haunted House. This was quite a feat, considering the lack of human resources that we had, and the lack of physical resources that we had. For example, we asked for a strobe or a black light, they brought us Christmas lights. Anyway after much ingenuity, we created a truly scary experience. It was really fun getting to be in the haunted house scaring people, although I did get hit right in the face with a plastic sword by a very scared child. Our kids knew we were in there, and it was way sad to hear them say, “No teacher, no,” when they were scared.
Much of the fun happened after all the kids were gone, and we were headed home. You see Becca’s face was painted like the Joker, mine was pure black, Chelsey was a Zombie, and Keara was a skeleton. The Chinese do not celebrate Halloween, so they are not used to seeing strangely dressed people walking down the street. We got quite a kick out of sticking our faces silently in windows until the people turned. Of course many times we got the desired reaction of terror. Some people really did look terrified like they had seen a real ghost. After the initial scare we would wave, and be on our way (most times they would laugh and wave back). Then people would want pictures with us, and they would watch us to laugh when we scared other people. What is normally a half an hour walk home took us two hours. I hope everyone had a great Halloween!!!