Pirates, Students, and Sheep--Oh My!

---

Once again, the moon rose and out came the foreigners in all their costumed glory. It was Halloween, the festival of candy, pumpkins, and if you're in China, beer and pizza.

For my 7th grade students this year, I gave them the same presentation I gave 8th and 9th grades last year... except that only 2 of the classes could play the Charlie Brown movie. I am now the proud owner of 350 drawn jack-o-lanterns and a population of students who think I am awesome because I give out candy.

My 9th graders got to have a drawing contest on the chalkboard. They drew some very interesting witches, vampires, and some generally ugly people. I wish I had taken pictures. In some classes I was laughing so hard I nearly cried.

Then it was Saturday.
I rose late.... and napped frequently. I certainly wanted to be well-rested for the evening. I went to a friend's so we could all help each other get ready. On the way out I cleverly gave the guards the rest of the Halloween candy and a note wishing them a Happy Halloween. This way when I came home late and looked a bit odd, they'd know why.

Dina took over curling my hair when it was apparent I was having problems. I can't see the back and it's hard to curl all of one's hair without thinking your arms will fall off. She used to help her friends in college, too, so she's pretty good at it and took half the time I would have.

Then it was time to put on more make-up than I've worn in a year (interestingly, the same make-up I wore a year ago). Green eyeshadow, red lipstick, 5 pounds of mascara. A little blush for a rosy look. Add to that some glittery clothes and VIOLA! I am now Disco Stu's Illegitimate Daugher. (Disco Stu is a character on The Simpsons. I wanted to go as him, but there were no men's disco clothes to be found... so I improvised.)

Other costumes assembled there were an elf, a pirate, Smurfette, and Daphne the redhead from Scooby Doo.

In the coolness of the night's 85 degrees, we took a few cabs to NYPD. (Such a far cry from fitting my costume over my winter parka, like when I was a kid.) I actually organzied the party this year. Well, okay, me and the owner. I was responsible for getting CTLC people there and he was in charge of our pizza, beer, and sound system. Total head count for the night: 120 people. And it was a private party.

We ate all you can eat pizza and all you can drink beer for about 3 hours. We took photos. We cracked jokes. We remembered costumes from last year. It was also Bart and Harry's birthdays (the 31st and the 1st) so we had a cake for them. A cake with far too much frosting. And goats on it. Chinese cakes are odd sometimes.

After we'd eaten far too much but not consumed nearly enough to drink we went to CoCo Park. CoCo Park is an area in Futian that has a lot of western restaurants and bars or at least establishments that cateer to Westerners. Dina and I had seen them setting up the night before and guessed there would be big parties. And we were right.

When we arrived the parties were in full swing. Or, I guess I should say party. While there were several bars serving people, it all spilled together and made for one big party. Everyone was dancing or taking a break from dancing. The wait for drinks at the bar was at least 20 minutes. My friend, dressed as a student, was too convincing as they actually refused her service until she yelled at them in English.

There were more foreigners at CoCo Park than I knew were in all of Shenzhen. Everyone, not just Americans, but anyone not Chinese, was out. There were even 7 (Brazillian?) Supermen dancing together on a wall. There was some crazy guy from South Africa who kept coming to our table, perhaps because 2 of my friends were black. There was the Chinese woman who was drunk and took too much interest in my friend the sheep. There was a guy dressed as a cartoon character sheep. There was a guy dressed as a Lonely Rancher (with a sheep--you figure it out). There was a guy dressed as a Desperate Housewife. There were the fair mix of sexy witches and monsters. There were people who forgot costumes. All in all, good people watching.

Around 2am we decided to call it a night. The party was still in full-swing, but we were tired. We couldn't dance any more. We shared a cab home. My guard gave me a funny look as I sauntered in, still sparkling.

---

Photos

"Student"
The bag, the glasses, the uniform--all part of the look of a typical student.

Devil and The Metro Mascot
The Metro Mascot is posted on all Metro doors and inside the cars. He reminds us to not push, shove, or eat while riding the metro. He's all about safety.

A Harlem Globetrotter and... Hmmmm
Who do you suppose the guy on the left is trying to be?

Comments

[Katie]

Fellow teacher question
Hey, so here's my question - did you give the students paper to draw their pumpkins on? Or did they use notebook paper? Any time I want the kids to do anything, it has to be in their own notebooks, because even with my fabulous salary, I can't really buy 850 pieces of paper for every lesson I want them to draw or write something. Any ideas?

[sunketing]

paper
They use their own paper. Some students don't have any and they get some from a friend. There's no way I'm buying them all paper, either!