Halloween Party

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I am stupid happy right now. You know when you get in those moods where you're so happy that you don't know what to do with yourself? Well today is just the BEST day.

I woke up at 5:30 am after a night of very little sleep. I made a double espresso with my BRAND NEW espresso machine and was out of the flat by 6:30. I went to school in darkness while reading Jane Eyre (finally getting around to it after not reading it in high school). I got to school, put on my mouse costume, and got ready for the party.

I dressed up as Ruby from Happy House for my kids' Halloween party. Happy House is my English curriculum, and the students have met a ton of characters (including a mouse named Ruby). I had the mouse ears and tail and pink bow and dress and tights. The students started to come in with their parents, and all of my kids had dressed up. And ALL of the parents brought in food. That never happens. We sat in a circle to ground ourselves before the day started.

The first activities were outside. We went out to the yard where I had hidden a ton of candy. The kids had to find as many pieces as they could, and the winner got a pencil at the end of the day (I have neon pencils that I give out as prizes...thanks, Walmart). They started off like a gun had been shot with their capes and tattered shirts flailing behind them. Hysterical. The second activity was a relay race. I had them line up in 2 lines and gave each line a broom. Each kid had to run around the field on the witches broom and then pass the broom off to their next teammate. The kids got so into it. The last activity outside involved 6 mixing bowls labeled numbers 1-6. They found chestnuts (they're everywhere here) and had to toss the chestnuts into the bowls to get points. We did 3 rounds, and they had to add up their own points (secret learning woahhhh). I checked their points at the end of each round by going down the line and having them scream their scores at me. I then screamed their scores back.

Just so you know, my kids got into every game. Because everything is amazing.

We went back inside after that game was over. Rea, my coteacher, had been setting up the enormous amount of food. We ate cupcakes and candy and cake and pretzels and bread and everything you could think of. Also, EVERY flavor of juice. ALL OF THEM. So tasty.

After the break we played musical chairs. Hilarious, of course. After musical chairs I had the kids sit around the room, and I showed them a super awesome and cool science experiment.

Here's what you do: take a cup. Plastic, glass, whatever. A cup. Fill it partway with vinegar (definitely look up the Hungarian translation before you go to buy it at the Hungarian supermarket). Take a latex glove. Pour some baking soda into the fingertips (baking soda comes in packets here. Like everything else). Fit the wrist of the latex glove around the rim of the cup. Yell Abracadabra! Watch nothing happen. Yell Alakazam! Your children will laugh at you. Lift up the glove so that the baking soda falls into the vinegar. The glove will inflate and become Frankenstein's hand and your children will yell and scream with excitement. Science.

I don't care how old you are. It's so cool. I obviously had to test it out last night before I did it in school. Actually the coolest.

After all the excitement with Frankenstein's hands, we played the Skittles game where I show the Skittle color to everyone in the class, but the person eating it has their eyes closed and mouth open. They then have to guess the color (they don't know flavors in English yet). Almost every kid was wrong. When it was my turn my kids crowded around me so tight, which was really startling when I opened my eyes.

That ended the second class. Eating took up a lot of time.

During this break the kids went outside. It's about 70 degrees and sunny out today. Just the most perfect day you can imagine plus autumn colors in trees and on the ground.

For the third class we started with a jar of M&Ms, and the kids had to guess how many. If they didn't know the number in English, they were allowed to say it in Hungarian, and other kids translated (because I "didn't know what they were saying"). I promise I'm actually good at numbers in Hungarian. Then we counted all the M&Ms together (there were 80).

Then we did a craft activity! The kids made spiders out of their hands. By the time we were done with that, it was time for another break. More running around outside.

When the kids came back in, we played pin the spider on the web. I blindfolded them, they looked ridiculous, everyone laughed and had a great time. Then the art teacher took over because English all day takes it out of you. I took the leftover candy and divided it into 19 little cups. At the end of the day I called them each up to take a cup and wish them a happy fall break.

DID I MENTION THAT THEY ARE THE CUTEST.

I really want to post pictures of them for you to see. Too bad it's so illegal. Just know that I have amazing pictures. They're real.

THEN I went up to the other school and got my check-in notification for FRANCE TOMORROW.

IT'S REAL. IT'S HAPPENING. FRANCE.

And THEN it was fall break! I listened to happy music all the way home and wore a pink bow in my hair because I am SO HAPPY IT HURTS.

And my chicken guy told me my Hungarian is better. And a woman was really impressed when she told me how much my veggies cost in Hungarian and I gave her the right amount.

EVERYTHING IS AMAZING. I'M GOING TO FRANCE. BYE.

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