Halloween

Halloween isn't celebrated at all in Taiwan (I know, right?)...except if you're in kindergarten and are allowed to go trick-or-treating during school time...on October 23rd (I know, right?).  So that's what we did, and that's as far as my Halloween extended this year.

However, I did carve a pumpkin that the school asked me to.

And it was placed near the entrance.

I think we have Halloween decorations because it's an "American" themed school...which would explain why we are preparing for our major Christmas production already.

So on October 23rd we wore our costumes to school and went trick-or-treating on one busy street to several businesses.  Definitely a different experience than what I'm used to.

Usually I'm into the more creative Halloween costumes, but I had to work with what I had (they don't really sell adult halloween costumes here), so I went with a cliche vampire-type thing...with a bat mask.

But the students went all out.

The only black shirt I had was a Mickey Mouse shirt so I wore it inside out...but you can still see the outline of Mickey.

Matching pitchforks.

We had an assembly just before we left for trick-or-treating where everyone got to show off their costumes.

So first we went to an apartment complex just to walk up and down the walkway like a parade...

with no one watching.

However, on the way out there was one lady handing out candy.

Lucky kids.

 Then we went down a busy street to a bunch of businesses who were waiting for us.  We sang Halloween songs playing on a loud portable speaker.

Ryan, Kristi, and I: the 3 foreign teachers at the school. 

It was a lot of fun even though it wasn't on actual Halloween.  But when you move somewhere else in the world I guess you have to accept their ways of doing things.  

Actual Halloween day remained uneventful, which was fine...although...

I did get this cool picture of The Birds gathering around my apartment, of which I've never witnessed before...eeek.

In other news: It's November already!?