We have now experienced our first American holiday here in China, Halloween! The school in which I, Jennifer, teach English, had a Halloween party. The week previous we passed out flyers at some primary schools to invite new students to join us for this fun American celebration. Passing out the flyers seemed to bring their reward as about 50 children came to celebrate with us. I mean, who is going to pass on a Halloween party for only 20 RMB with real Americans!
We went early to help decorate and were given masks that we could wear. However, shortly before the party started we were told that we shouldn't wear the masks so that people could see that we were indeed American. This way there was no doubt at all.
We decided to have rotations for the party to allow the kids to do several activities in a slightly more organized way. There were four classes and it ended up being a lot of fun. One of the classes was a mix of musical chairs and the human knot game. One of our friends Laurel and her husband decorated oranges as pumpkins and decorated the classroom. The games were new to the kids, but enjoyed by all. 
Another room had Halloween Twister. Instead of the color circles there were werewolves, cats, ghosts, and pumpkins. We didn't get to see this one in action, but the idea sounded really clever. The class that Daniel and I were in charge of was mask making. It was the only class in which the kids made something so it was a little crazy. Depending on the age groups we had they all wanted to make kitten masks or masks that allowed them to draw their own unique design. Some of the masks were rather good! But what all the groups had in common is that they left the room an utter mess, with broken crayons and soda spills.
The last class was BINGO. They played picture BINGO and won ghost suckers that we had made. This is always a classic in school Halloween parties and had to be included in our school Halloween party here in China. Kids of all ages find this to be fun and enjoyable. 
Before we sent the kids home we showed an American movie. The original plan was to show an American classic, "The Adams Family". This proved to not be the greatest idea, as the movie did not have any Chinese subtitles and did not feature much dialogue. After a boy expressed that the movie was scaring him, we dialed down the intensity and starting showing "Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Thus turned out be much better! The older group of children continued to watch "The Adams Family". The movies were enjoyed, but what was enjoyed even more was the popcorn they had as a treat. The teachers simply handed the kids bags of popcorn and they went to town. By the time the movie was over there was some serious damage. We tried to clean up a little before we left, but as in China, we were told not to clean up and that the cleaning lady would take care of it in the morning. I can attest that the next day I went into work and she had cleaned up all the popcorn. But I'm glad that I wasn't there when the cleaning lady saw the mess.
Before heading home we decided to stop for dinner, as we hadn't eaten any real food yet. We stopped at Paris Baguette where they serve pizza slices and other yummy treats. Earlier some of the parents had given their kids some pizza and I inquired where they bought it. The parents took this question to mean "Give me some pizza!" and were eager to give the pizza that their children wanted so badly to us. But we were able to ward them off. We enjoyed our own meal at Paris Baguette greatly and had a very fun time with friends.  |
| Laurel & Paul Niedfeldt, Jennifer & Daniel Evans, Trevor & Katie Heder Our great husbands came and helped with our Halloween Party. Thanks for the help! |
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Flagship also had a Halloween party the next day, so our Halloween wasn't quite over yet. We didn't stay for very long, but had a good time chatting with fellow students. There was a bucket full of water set up for "bobbing for apples" but who really went to town on it were not the students, but rather two of our Flagship babies, Peter and Clara. Their water party got kind of wild, so the water had to be removed. 
Another highlight was Shura, a fellow student, playing a piece on the Guzheng, a classic Chinese instrument. This little performance proved to be a great lead up to the next day's wonderful cultural enjoyment.
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Happy Halloween!
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