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Published: November 1st 2010
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Even out here in the hinterlands, American celebrations are lauded. To be certain, China has its share of holidays, but none of them involve candy or squash carving. Halloween is quite well-known here. How it became to be well-known exactly, I am not sure.
The Impossibly Adorable Roommates (IARs) had already planned the Halloween celebration, and it was to occur in conjunction with our regular Friday night "English Club" gathering. Our students and their parents would be in attendance. All the preparation had been done; all I had to do was show up and represent large, English-speaking Americans.
Have you ever translated something through
Babelfish and tried to make sense of what came out the other end? That was what our Halloween party was like. The general idea was right, it's just that it just
wasn't quite right.
Halloween masks were clearly needed and said masks were procured. Apparently though, the purchase order had not been quite specific on
the type of masks required, something that I was not aware of until one of the IARs arrived with an armful of
Mardi Gras masks. My kids were absolutely delighted with their new masks though I was horrified: I
really didn't want my students looking like Brazilian showgirls.
Then came the matter of pumpkins. In the USA, most pumpkins that are grown for Halloween sales are specific varieties bred for uniformity, size and have relatively thin walls. The thin walls make the pumpkins easy for the kids to carve. Here in China, pumpkins are quite serious: they are grown for food, not carving. Hence, they are very small, stout and obviously not designed to be turned into jack-o'-lanterns. They are also in short supply. We were able to procure a few (but not nearly enough) so we had to supplement our pumpkins with close substitutes: a large, orange gourd and a small, purple eggplant (I felt really sorry for the kid who got stuck with the eggplant).
The IARs set up a large table, spread out newspapers and handed out some knives. I was really not all that comfortable with giving out knives to school children, but the parents were there watching over the kids and no cute little fingers were cut off during my watch. Pumpkin carving went pretty well. The kids had obviously researched jack-o'-lantern design beforehand; it was as though they had done it
all their lives. During the more difficult parts, the Dads stepped in to facilitate carving. The kids used spoons to remove the seeds and pulp until I scoffed and showed them that digging into the pumpkin innards with your hands was the only proper way to remove the stuff (and cram orange pulp goop under your fingernails at the same time).
Red candles and matches appeared and we had genuine jack-o'-lanterns just in time for photo opportunities.
(One thing that I haven't before mentioned is the photo opportunities. Not a day goes by when I am not asked to pose for photographs with students, parents or perfect strangers. I have posed with public school teachers, Principals and even the waitresses in a restaurant. I smile, they snap. Then, someone else sidles up next to me. I smile, they snap. Over and over. Every day. Heaven knows why.)
Halloween would not be complete without an English lesson, so a printed list was handed out to the mask-wearers so that they could eat their daily requirement of words.
The list read:
1. Halloween
2. pumpkin
3. candy
4. neighbor
5. lantern
(and, for some reason that still eludes me)
6. "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat"
I tried to explain that no self-respecting American kid would ever say such a thing, but I was ignored.
What impressed me was how the Halloween party was so downright normal. The kids were kids and their parents, coming straight over after work, were still in your standard, anywhere-in-America office attire. The kids and their parents could have been anywhere in the USA, if only you overlooked the feathered masks.
A large bag of individually-wrapped candy was shoved into my hands. I was asked to give out pieces of candy to each child who lined up in single file and could correctly say "Trick or Treat". Candy is a powerful motivator: each masked child easily passed my English quiz. Candy all given out, I posed for a few more photographs and went home to bed.
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Tarheel
non-member comment
A charming account of your Halloween party.