Halloween

On Monday, October 30, I told students, the ones I wouldn't see on Tuesday, about Halloween. I taught them "trick or treat" and told them to come to the office door the next day. I remember mentioning that some children wear masks on Halloween night. Must be why one little boy came back from lunch wearing his monkey mask and acting the part...well, actually the part was not new for him. He normally acts like a monkey!

ZiChao and I went to the store to buy over 1000 pieces of candy. Two very large bags of bite-sized hard candy was $10. Nick also bought candy. We were ready.

The next day, Halloween, Zuo, ZiChao and I decorated the office door in the morning so the children would know which door to come to. We chose the ghost for our decoration since it was the character with the greatest "ooooo!" reaction on Monday.





The students came to trick or treat during the 10 minute recess between classes. Several had made masks at home. The boy in the store-bought mask and red sweats is my monkey.









This young man had folded his paper "hat."







The word got out, naturally, and the line at the door, naturally, became very long. We were teaching my way of getting in line and standing in line (those of you who have been to China will understand the futility of this endeavor). It was, naturally, crazy! Twice the line was more than Zuo, ZiChao and I could handle and we sent everyone off. No, some were not happy but most did really seem to take it all in stride. In the end I snuck around to my students' classes, the ones I didn't have in class that day, and tried to make sure they all had a chance at "trick or treat."

On Wednesday and Thursday, instead of their normal "Hello," I had a different first grader each day greet me with a beaming face and a, "Trick or treat!" Those words are magic!