This is Halloween

Scary Faces
(Left to Right: Josh, Kim, Moi, Megan, Momo)

Halloween is October 31st, right? Wrong! Well, you're not wrong but we didn't celebrate Halloween on the 31st here in Taiwan this year. The students all had their big mid-terms the week of Halloween so we celebrated the holiday a week early, on the 25th. Halloween is the largest holiday for ESL schools in Asian countries, even larger than Christmas. It's fun for the kids because they get to dress up, it's relatively little involvement on the parents part because the activities all take place at school, and there's little financial commitment beyond the purchase of a costume for the child. Plus, each child gets to pick what costume they want, so it fosters that individuality that we are always trying to build them up with at that age. So of course Halloween is a big hit.

"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. Mille"

An entire day of classes was altered for the holiday. We still had "classes" in the strictest sense of the word, but the structure of them was all warped when compared to how they normally flow. The kids went from one activity to the next, all of them spooky themed. One class was a puppet show with the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin while another had "monster boxes". Each box contained a different part of a witch. One box had "witch eyes" (grapes) while another had "witch brains" (cooked noodles). You get the idea.

                             Everyone getting ready.

Finished Product: Teacher Kat

Opening began with all of the kids showing off their costumes one by one. They would get up in front of everyone, introduce themselves (even though we all already know who they are), and say what their costume is. We had 3 costume awards as well: Scariest costume, Funniest costume, and Best Costume.

Some of the kids were brave and took to the stage with little prompting (Wendy, Chris, Yoyo, Isha) while others were shy and needed a little pressure put on them before they went up (Willy, Mumu, Ann, Toku).

Some even downright refused (Grace: Butterfly, Ian: Batman, Joe: Monkey King).

Teacher Katelin and Teacher Josh sitting with the kids while Teacher Megan leads.

I would like to think that I am embracing my inner cat in this picture.

With Yara

Let the costume contest begin!

Sandy: Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. Winner of Best Costume! 

Benson: Skeleton

 (Sandy and Benson are siblings btw)

Yi-Jia: Mummy. Winner of Scariest Costume!

Maggie: Witch 

Ann: Elsa

Mumu: Little Red Riding Hood

Isha: TMNT

Turtle up!

(Isha and Mumu are cousins)

Yara: Devil

Ives: Pirate

Willy: Captain America

Yoyo: Captain America

Toku: Cheetah. Winner of Funniest Costume!

 Gotta fix that eye....again.

His costume was a rain poncho with spots drawn on and his paper eyeballs kept falling off. It was hilarious.

Victor: Kung Fu Master

Chris: Ninja

Wendy: Totoro

Joshua: Wizard

They're all sitting nicely. FOR ONCE.

Go Teacher Megan GO! Teach those kids!

About to line up for the fun of the day to begin.

A bunch of the kids in our tiny kitchen in the school.

Lisa and Jill (a couple of my 2A students) assisted in the scaring part.

We converted my classroom, which is also the art/shop room, and the drama room into the "haunted house". It works out because that's all on the 3rd floor of the school so we could keep that area closed off until we were ready for the kids to see it. We spent all morning getting it ready, we're talking hours people, and we were really pleased with the results. The kids wandered through the drama room which we called "Maryland in the Future". Basically we told the kids this is what the school will look like in 20 years and if they don't do their homework they'll be stuck here forever and they'll look like this guy, and we would point to a skeleton on the wall; stuff like that. We had Momo hiding behind a black curtain in the jail cell area and when the kids would walk by she would scream and grab their ankles. Many a child was traumatized by that.

Mumu wants out of the scary Tunnel and Benson doesn't even dare venture in.

They would then meander over to my classroom where they had to get on their hands and knees and crawl through a tunnel that we created by pushing desks together and draping black paper and cloth over the top so that it was dark. We taped string and other harmless things to dangle down on the inside so that it would hit their faces and arms as they crawled. As they exited the tunnel we had some of my older students volunteer to jump out and scare them. If they weren't scared by Momo in the jail cell, Derek certainly go them there.

After all of the spooky activities, and getting the pee scared out of them from our bomb haunted house, it was time for the main event: Trick-or-Treating!

We split the younger kids up into 2 groups and took them to 5 separate locations to "Trick-or-Treat". Teacher Kim and Teacher Megan took one group with Momo while Teacher Josh and I took Emma and the other group. First, was Sherry's office on the second floor of the school. Second, was the secretaries' desk on the main floor. The next two locations required us to leave school grounds.

Emma, one of Maryland's secretaries and overall BAMF.

Once we left Maryland we turned right and the went to the Korean shop that's right next door. Cindy and her husband have a long standing relationship with the school and always give the kids discounts and special treats when they come to buy food before class.

Teacher Josh reminding them what to say and do before it's their turn.

Give me thine hand, little Yara!

After the Korean wrap shop we went up the street to, where? 7-11, of course!

I kept up the rear to watch for stragglers which gave me this great view of the other group passing us by.

Inside of 7-11

Smile, Ann!

With the younger kids finished with their spooky fun and off to their homes, it was time for the evening class to begin. The first hour was relatively normal: take roll, turn in homework, do a quick grammar lesson, write in the communication books, etc. The second hour the kids also got to go Trick-or-Treating. Instead of breaking up into 2 groups, all of the teachers got to take their own classes so there were 4 groups. The kids were older and more mature and actually able to listen and follow directions so it was totally manageable for each teacher to have their own class.

Olivia and Maggie wearing adorable matching outfits.

My 2A girls all dressed up in some fashion. From left to right it is: Lisa, Maggie, Jill, Olivia, and May.

2A! Look at me and smile! (That's Alex with the crazy eyes, btw)

Teacher Megan is taller. Let's have her take the picture instead.

Momo and I being fierce.

After trick-or-treating the older kids went through the haunted house as well. They tried to act like they weren't scared but many of them screamed and even physically jumped. One boy got so scared they he even lashed out and kicked at Momo and Jill, one of my students that was helping. 

Our spooky Taiwan family.

By the end of the night we were exhausted. It was a day where all hands were on deck from sun up until way past sun down but we managed to make a day that was memorable not just for the kids, but for us as well.

Josh: Zebra, Kim: Scarecrow, Me: Cat, Megan: Giraffe, Momo: Undead