Halloween Festivities

Last Monday we hosted a Halloween party, our first major event at the American Corner. The two librarians we work with were willing to put up with our craziness, and it was good cultural education because Serbians don't have Halloween.

I enlisted my mom to send us some authentic decorations, and she came through in a big way. We had tons of spider webs, Frankenstein posters, rubber bats and spiders, and even two pairs of Groucho glasses. To add to the atmosphere, Dan and I also spent way too much time putting together a Halloween mix. Here's the playlist:

• Beetlejuice Main Theme / Danny Elfman
• Do They Know It's Halloween / North American Halloween Prevention Initiative
• I Put a Spell on You / Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• Double Trouble / John Williams
• In the Hall of the Mountain King / Edvard Grieg
• Monster Mash / Bobby "Boris" Pickett
• Ghostbusters / Ray Parker Jr.
• Dance Macabre / Saint-Saens
• Don't Fear the Reaper / Blue Oyster Cult
• Werewolves of London / Warren Zevon
• Witch Doctor / Sha na na
• A Nightmare on My Street / DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
• Thriller / Michael Jackson
• Superstitious / Stevie Wonder
• This is Halloween / Danny Elfman
  

For a personal touch, we had our dads send us pictures from when we were little. Dan looks great in a Star Trek costume. I thought it was brave of him to put that one on display - it is definitive proof of his geekitude. It was worth any minor embarrassment, though, because people really responded to the pictures. They enjoyed seeing our families and our costumes. I think it helped convince them that Halloween is something that we really do.

Our first game was bobbing for apples. Dan was a good sport and went first, and he really took a bath. One of the librarians went next and even the photographer from the local paper had a turn. It took the kids an hour or so of walking by and staring down the apples before they'd try, but they eventually did and it was a riot.

We also had crafts, which I was nervous about. I didn't know if people would take to it or think it was dumb. They were supposed to make masks using paper plates, crayons, and some tissue paper for collage. Our guests were more creative than we anticipated - aside from stylish masks, people also turned out bow-ties, jack-o-lanterns, and other nifty paper crafts. One girl even made a present for me, a lovely purple candy box, which now has a place of honor on our dining room table.

One of the boys who regularly haunts the American Corner was particularly creative/manic. He put on the groucho glasses, wrapped a towel around his head (it was supposed to be for people who had bobbed for apples), draped himself with ribbon, and made fangs out of candy corn. I'm not sure what he was trying to be...

We also had a round of musical chairs, and I have to say, I have never seen such a polite game of musical chairs in my life. When two kids came to the same chair, they would offer it to each other, or one would simply walk away. American kids are vicious! I didn't know quite what to think, but they seemed to enjoy it, and it did get more competitive as it got down to fewer and fewer people. The prize - a copy of our Halloween mix.

Of course we had candy (lollipop ghosts!) and we showed a few cartoons, including the "classic" Garfield's Halloween Adventure, which is absolutely ridiculous but does a good job of showing what kids actually do on Halloween. (Candy candy candy candy candy ...) Many of the kids I spoke to throughout the night were incredulous and extremely jealous that American kids get candy just for putting on a costume. I'm afraid I've done some damage to the more accurate view of life in the US I've been trying to develop. Now they think the streets are paved with candy instead of gold.