Halloween, Beijing-Style!

So I feel like death right now, coughing up three months of beautiful Beijing air and hoping I don't have the black lung. Still, siting on the couch dying means I have lots more free time than I usually do, which means I'm finally putting up a new post. Today's post focuses on the joys of Halloween in China, namely what I did with my kids at kindergarten at school. The day was divided up into three parts: the first part involved me playing Halloween games with them and dancing to Halloween music, the second part involved the children running around the school in their costumes, pounding on doors and demanding candy, and finally the third part involved the parents and children gathering outside for more candy, while I was forced to dress in a creepy old man costume and scare kids. Good times!

OK so the main highlight of the first part of the day was playing Apple Bobbing with the kids. I can tell you right now, it was not a very sanitary game. The fact alone that we filled the buckets with unfiltered Beijing tap water was probably bad enough, but after 20+ kids tried to get the apples and all spit the water back up, that bucket got pretty nasty. But the bucket wasn't the only thing that got nasty- there were some rather intense matches between the children that would often end in violence! Don't believe me? Being the good teacher I am, instead of breaking up one of the fights I decided to film it instead! Some would argue this makes me a bad teacher... and to that I would probably answer touche! Now everyone can enjoy the epic Apple Bobbing battle below!



So as I said, the second part of the day involved the children running around the halls demanding candy. Like good children they all began chanting "Trick or Treat" in unison, to the degree that the teachers were so intimidated they stopped handing out the candy and instead began either throwing down the hall or at the children themselves (which would lead to the inevitable skirmishes on the floor for stray pieces of candy). God bless those little children, diving for candy as if they hadn't eaten for days! Don't think I wasn't cheering them on!

The third part of the day was an odd one. I was told to dress as an old man and limp around the campus grounds, handing candy out to everyone who approached me. I guess I did a little too good a job, as I made several children cry, and it was mainly parents getting the candy for their cowering kids. Estee, on the other hand, was asked to dress up as Snow White with a mask on, as to conceal her true identity. This whole thing didn't make much sense, but the kids had a long of fun (minus the ones that encountered me)! Estee was placed on a balcony, where she waved like the queen of England and threw candy down to the kids below. Here's a video of that madness:

Alrighty that's all I've got in me for posting today. I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and show the kids just how sick I am...