I have been inundated in past weeks. Not with water, but more or so, with Halloween related activities. Yes, Halloween has somehow immersed itself as part of Chinese culture. Well, at least in youth culture. And by youth, I think I mean exclusively, my kindergarten. Happyland was the place to be on Friday the 29th of October. Yes, ‘The Day of the Dead’ celebrations had to be changed for practical reasons. What a grand day was had though, after ‘rigorous’ (note the inverted commas) planning and craft making.
The first creation of this Halloween spectacular (weeks in advance of the actual date) was, as I liked to call it; ‘The Halloween Board’. And as the name may or may not insinuate, it was a board about Halloween, explaining the origins, presence in contemporary culture, the many entitlements it can possess and common activites. Could anyone actually read the English synopsis? Doubtful, however, they could be dazzled by all the aesthetic wonder I surrounded the English synopsis with. Lots of bats. A tree, a mighty fine tree. A yellow circle, that one could and hopefully did interpret as the moon. Some highly pixelated pictures and large red writing.
When the fateful day arrived we were greeted with blue skies and a vast majority of the child population dressed in costumes. I myself, thought I would enrich the children’s lives by dressing up as ‘Where’s Wally?’, with a modern twist. And my teaching assistant, forward slash lovely human being and 我的朋友, wore a costume somewhat resembling a witch. Her name is Jessica, and she just has this wonderful nature about her that I will miss thoroughly come January. So the day consisted of four 45 minute parties for 2 classes combined. Sorry if that makes no sense.
The structure of the parties were quite methodic. First, a greeting, “Happy Halloween” no less. Then some new words to learn:
- ghost
- pumpkin
-spider
- bat
This was followed by a fashion parade. Potentially the cutest single moment of my life thus far. I attribute this to the fact that ‘Doctor Jones’ was the runway theme song. Some of the costumes were quite creative, and unique. The posing, adorable. Subsequently following was game time. Three games running in not quite perfect syncronicity, but were running! ‘Pin the nose on the witch’ was my personal favourite. Despite the fact I constructed the amazing looking witch, I feel I can be completely objective in the above statement. Other games included going on a ‘witch hunt’ to find small cut out witch papers around the room, then there was what was supposed to be a pumpkin toss contest. What I mean is, throwing light weight plastic balls through a pumpkin picture. But that all went haywire when I lacked the necessary resources. Instead it was throwing balls through the frogs mouth (overtly large mouth, might I say?). Oh, and then it was “trick or treat”. Not going to lie. Children can be cruel and gluttoneous.
The next day, us Australians and a girl of Swedish decent decided to keep that haunting spirit alive by dressing up once again and galavanting through the city, to popular shopping districts and landmark statues of Mao Zedong, in costume. A splendid day, made all the more better by the sun’s rays and the hilarity of the costumes. I was a nerd, a geek, a stereotyped academic achiever- see what I did there? Emily went 80’s, Molly went as a tea bag. Amazing. And Linnea, the delightful Swede. Well, no one actually knows what her costume was about. It was like commando, cross dominatrix. All in all though, a wonderful first time celebrating Halloween, with no better company.
Since I somewhat dabbled on the subject of weather just previously, I feel I should let all know, that it is quite chilly here in Shenyang. It’s been autumn (emphasis on the season) for a month now, and the weather is a lovely, mild 6-8 degrees most days and into the minuses during the night. Don’t mistake me though, I am relishing the weather change and most of all the opportunity to experience and live in snow. This lake in Shenyang will freeze over and become an ice skating rink. Good times will ensue.
There is no chance of me missing Australia and getting homesick for the entirety of this 6 month trip as my saving grace arrived in the mail a week ago. PEPPERMINT TEA! Tim Tams. And various other consumer goods that my wonderful mother put in a care package. Vegemite, salt and vinegar chips, chocolate (proper chocolate). They were nice. Yes, do note the past tense here, as a majority no longer exist physically. Bit of trivia for ya’ll; yesterday marked the halfway point of this voyage. It has just begun dawning on me- almost like an epiphany, that one day this is all going to end (apologies for the nostalgia). And I will have to say goodbye to my school, the teachers, the kids, the nice woman that speaks amazing English at the IS cafe, my roomates, my friends, the sardine-like public transport system, my walk home from school and the many stares I recieve, catching taxis with such ease, the construction every few metres, street pancakes, the Chinese people squatting. I try to repress these thoughts. But I possess no delusions, I know it is a natural progression and it is culminative.
Just to completely change the topic, I went to a lovely town called Benxi two weeks ago. It was splendid. A two hour bus ride from Shenyang. And this quite simply, lushious scenery of autumn. Trees wilting, lakes flowing. Colours of brown, orange and red in their various shades taking hold. I really enjoyed it. The sky was as blue as I’ve ever seen it in China, but don’t be decieved, it was a blummin’ cold day. Boardwalks were cleverly interwinned with natural paths, bridges which allowed you to capture the highest points. One of the teachers from my school accompanied, as I suspect my school feared I would die in Benxi, not knowing much Chinese and an inability to read the signage. Bless.
I’ll leave it there for now. Just know, I am loving life and life in Shenyang, more specifically. I am being curious and passionate, eager and explorative. I hope you are all doing the same, wherever and whatever you are doing in life.
Tyler Gleason
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