It was an interesting day, and I think the kids had fun, but MAN, it was CHAOTIC! I wore my makeup and costume to school and got a lot of funny looks on my way, but curiously, not too many smiles! Koreans don't like cats. Ok.
Once I arrived at school, though, I got fussed over. A lot! I have to say, I do make a pretty good looking cat, so I understand. When I told the kids I was going to be Kamikaze Kamakiri Kitty for Halloween, some of them misunderstood and thought I was going to be bringing him in to school for the day! No, no, no...he's not very "child (people) friendly." It's good I didn't bring him in either, he would have been mauled.
Actually, I feel kind of violated tonight. Within the first ten minutes of being at school today, my "tail" had been lifted up about ten times so everyone could get a good look at my ass. Even two shopkeepers and an old woman selling vegetables on the street did that to me when I ran to the store to buy some scissors. I think they were just trying to see if I had actually grown the tail over the weekend. I had not. It was a real fur (rabbit?) muffler I bought in Japan a couple years ago. I've never wore it as a muffler, but have worn it as a tail a few times now. I spent the whole day trying to defend my tail. Now I know the rule for Korean children is, "see a cat, yank it's tail off." Good thing Kamikaze stayed home lying upside down in his sunbeam. He'd be all manxy now.
We had, during the afternoon, a series of "Golden Bell" competitions, where I ask a bunch of questions in English and the kids all scatter to either the true or the false half of the lobby. Trouble was, they all acted like sheep and just lemmed over to where the majority headed. I don't know where the term "Golden Bell" came from. Nothing was golden, and there was no bell. There were whistles though, and they were loud. There was also a microphone I had. Both whistles and microphones are meant to be stolen by children so they can get the whistle shrilling as loudly as possible, or scream into the microphone with the same fervor. Holy hell it was a loud day.
In the evening, many of the kids returned in costumes to participate in the games and crafts. Here's a run-down:
Scavenger hunt was good and crazy. Kids spread out over whole 2nd floor of the building to find cardboard pumpkins I'd hidden all over the place. The pumpkins were assigned points, with the smaller and harder-to-find ones being more valuable. The kids liked it and had a sceamingly fun time.
Bobbing for apples was a success as well. I was talking to my friend Herb in Japan over the weekend, and he said they'd done an apple thing for their Halloween event, but the kids were really reluctant to get their faces wet. Those are Japanese kids. My kids were scuba diving for the apples, which was hilarious, but meant the school was quickly soaked. Still, it was fun.
Bingo, good. Pass-the-Pumpkin-Relay (orange balloon, really ~ and sans hands) good! Ghost-Bowling, good....but all the ghosts started falling off the plastic diet coke bottles once the balls made contact. In the end it was just bowling, really.
Make a skeleton,
good, but messy!
Glass Deco, messy, and not very good at all. I had imagined a nice calm craft workshop where the kids were busy using these glue paint things to fill in the outlines I'd made yesterday. Then we would put a sticker with their name on their work, set them aside to dry, and the kids could take them home tomorrow. Fuggedaboutit! The kids wanted them NOW, so were carrying them around by the corners with all the paint sliding off onto the floor and getting all over everyone and everything. I think I salvaged about 8 out of the 30 or so that were made.
The costumes were cute, those that wore them. I had a very funny moment when I stood talking to one of my little boy students in a "Scream" mask. Then his buddy showed up in his scream mask. I said "Oh! Sangdoonhees" (twins!) Then another Scream mask showed up, and another. Honestly, I was surrounded by 7 or 8 scream faces looking up at me! Otherwise there were devils and angels, witches and skeletons, and one pumpkin. Oh, and a few ghoul masks. There wasn't anything creative or home-made at all. Pity.
Elizabeth was going as a gypsy. Then she told me she was going to be an Indian-gypsy. Actually, she unintentionally turned out to be a funky African tribal woman. I thought she looked great.
I was harried. If I wasn't busy trying to keep the kids from snatching the tail out of my pants, or my ears off the top of my head, I was pushing knives, swords, machetes, and scythes out of my face. Even when they're plastic, having them shoved in your face isn't too pleasant.
On a positive note, a lot of the kids kept staring at me. I wore contact lenses and makeup (including big fake feathery eyelashes) which I never do. I'm usually all about the glasses and ponytail. I was told I was pretty many times today. Yes, pretty kitty indeed.
Pretty tired kitty with a backache, actually.
(Back home, my mother sent my cute niece a Halloween package. She was going to be a unicorn, but now she's going to wear her new ballerina tutu as well! Excellent!)
1 comment:
Actually, my co-worker did take a couple pictues. When she sends them to me, I'll post them.
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