A few words about Halloween<3
First of all it's the celebration that I've never thought is something so special, but will now, most definitely, be one of the experiences that I will always remember from the time spent here in the States. As already mentioned in the earlier posts, everything here in the US is done BIG and extreme. This applies to the Halloween also! Every one, literally every one, decorates houses, stores, restaurants, hair salons etc. etc. It's seriously like Christmas; impossible to avoid the decorations and the whole spirit:)
Apparently Halloween, also known as the All Hallows' Eve, comes from the ancient Celtic culture many many years back. These people "believed that on Halloween, the 31st of October, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damage crops." While Halloween was a time for honoring the saints and praying for the recently departed souls, it also caused fear in people. Masks and costumes were worn to disguise people's identities in order to avoid being recognized by any departed souls that might be seeking for revenge." (1/1/2013, http://www.halloweenhistory.org/)
My Halloween here was a one week long celebration. Four different costume parties with four different costumes:) A costume oriented week, I would say:) All in all the highlight of all the events was certainly on Saturday 26th of October when we had the main Halloween party here in the International Student House. The day included all kinds of activities related to Halloween, of course. Such as pumpkin carving, decorating the house, eating sweets and shopping the finishing parts for our costumes. My absolute favorite was the pumpkin carving which I've never done before and which will absolute not be my last time either;) Just the idea of doing something that you always see in the movies feels absurd, but hey here I am and blessed to try all these things, even if it's just pumpking carving I talking about:D
The best decorations ever: the extremely flexible spiderweb that we got to spread all over the Great Hall:)
In the evening the hard workout, preparing our costumes and the make-up, started. It takes for ever to get ready, but in the same time this period of getting ready with all the chicas in the same floor is one of the best things when living in a residence. All the doors to the rooms are open, music is played, everyone walks in and out to each others rooms to show their progress and the feeling of community really stands out:D Sounds like College life, I know, but I really enjoy having all these people around me<3
At 9pm the Main Hall opened it's door's and the room filled with 90 residents all wearing astonishing costumes. This was when all the fun started! Can you imagine having a huge Halloween party with 90 people that are like family to you. Well this is what it felt like!
I know I'm repeating myself, but seriously: The unforgettable experiences you gain while living with all these people is just AMAZING<3 I feel lucky since I'm quite sure that we wouldn't have had similar experiences and memories here in the USA if we would have been living outside the ISH.
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