Halloweeeen!

We are having a Halloween Party on Friday in my class. They don't celebrate it here, except in some bars where creepy old me go to hang out. And since I won't be going to one of those, I figured the least I could do was bring it into my classroom. And no, my students (with the exception of a few half farang kids) don't know what it is, but thats not stopping me. I talked them through it, and while the spooky parts are a bit tough to convey, the concepts of dressing up in a costume and eating lots of candy were picked up pretty quickly. Spent 6 hours Saturday on my bicycle, traipsing around town to 4 different locations looking for decorations. (Anyone who says teaching is an 8 to 4 job is lying.) No dice on those, but no matter, I have started allocating our normal class hours into impromptu art periods involving solely the creation of Halloween decorations. During social studies yesterday, we all made pumpkins that were then taped up around the room, and tomorrow during health we are going to try and tackle some of the more scary aspects of the holiday, ie witches, mummies and vampires! Because this is Thailand, and everything is backward, we cant wear our costumes to school, but we can bring them to change into. So after snack on Friday afternoon, we all put on our costumes, and bust out our candy that we basically will just share with each other. Play some games, maybe watch a movie. Heck, maybe I'll find a pumpkin to bring in and we can carve it. Regardless, its going to be awesome. And if you suspect that I got this by the school administration and my bosses by disguising it as a 'way to experience American culture and interact with fellow students while practicing English in a fun and unique way,' [taken directly from my letter home to the parents that was approved by my boss] but really just want an excuse to celebrate Halloween, see my kids dressed up in costumes, and eat lots of candy....well then, you are absolutely correct.

TPWWLT - The Raconteurs - 'Carolina Drama'

PS I'm going as Ben 10, a cartoon character that is HUGE over here with my students. See the picture below. Already have the jeans, black tee, green sweatshirt, and watch. Still working on the Chuck Taylors. I've actually spent more on this costume than I have in sometime, and all I needed to buy was the watch and t-shirt!