halloween in china

so so soooo very sorry for the time in between blogs. the internet at my apartment randomly stopped working (due to a broken modem) on wednesday night and just got fixed today. i have been in between cafes and restaurants using their WiFi and spending too much money on coffee, food and smoothies. can't complain too much :) but now it's back and i am catching up on my grey's, office, it's always sunny, etc!

onto halloween.

very unexpectedly, halloween was a HUGE celebration at Wunan. since it is an international school, they make a really big deal out of the holidays of different cultures, primarily american. the hall way was decked out in jack o lanterns, ghosts, spider webs and witch hats. i could not have been happier! i love halloween!

all week i taught about halloween! it was so easy. we sang songs about ghosts, and dressing up. i even carved a pumpkin for both my classes. they were amazed (sadly, no pictures. i was too busy sawing into a miniature size pumpkin, using an over sized knife :)

on wednesday, one of the parent's business put on a halloween extravaganza for my 3 year old class. this was the BIGGEST halloween party i have ever seen for children, even in america! it was so bizarre. i get a text from my chinese teacher the night before stating "tomorrow. dress up in costume. you will be emcee for halloween party. it is your culture and funny. give reward. let dance. let trick or treat."

hmmmmm....

alright.

so i am dressed up like this walking down the streets of china. you think americans have been stared at before? try wearing some ears.

and the party snapshots look like this.

party scene - all decked out. no joke - there were professional video cameramen, a DJ, treats and prizes galore. along with about 20 photo snapping parents.

boys of the 3 YR class.

my 2 little pumpkins. aaron and jiajia

rich and terry

then on friday - it was party #2 with the entire school. i got to spend the entirety of it with my 5/6 class. by the way, the foreign teachers (jacquelyn, gene and i) had to yet again put on another "show" for the school. 

this time it was full of dancing, singing, and ... a FASHION SHOW! haha it's my dream come true. i had my kids strutting their stuff to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and posing like models. peace signs and karate moves were being thrown left and right.

after the "show" we took the kids trick or treating down Hengshan Lu, the road by the school. there were PTA parents lined up along the sidewalks giving out candy and just having fun.

 it was such a fun day to immerse the kids in a different culture's holiday. i wish america was more like this... maybe i will change that when i come back :)

& now for the cutest girl ever.

and my two cutie boys.