Kelly left basically when my mom arrived, but they certainly were in Korea at the same time and we have just one picture to prove it. 
A quick photo...
It was taken on Friday morning, when Kelly was heading to the airport and Yellow Ribbon celebrated its first Halloween ever.
Koreans don’t know much about “Halloweenday” minus the typical ghosts, pumpkins and witches. Kids know of costumes, but they don’t usually wear them, and other than the awareness that candy is somehow involved, they’re not quite sure how to get it.
So, John Teacher and I organized an entire Halloween Festival for all our kimchi-loving munchkins and…. it was a BLAST!
Despite the swine flu-scare that’s been circulating through our countryside, attendance was high and the costumes were fantastic.
A-list celebs like Spiderman, Batman, Snow White, Cinderella and the red power ranger all showed up dressed to impress (some of them more than once) and ready to beg for candy.
The A-Listers
We played classic games like Pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin, Miss Pockets, Spider Ring Toss and Bean Bag Toss. For arts n’ crafts, we made spider and ghost lollipops out of pipe cleaners and Kleenex.
We gave out all the standard prizes- parachute men, plastic spider rings, fake vampire teeth… and of course, plenty of candy to get ‘em started.
Trick-or-Treat!
After their homemade baskets had a good, solid layer of treats in them, we loaded onto the ghoulish buses and headed down into town for some inaugural Trick-Or-Treating.
The students’ parents lined the streets passing out goodies galore as we marched by, chanting the “Trick or treat, smell my feet…” song.
I do believe this was the first time Halloween had ever come to Janghyun-ri (my town), and all eyes were smiling and on us!
Shop owners came out to see what all the bustle was about, and customers peeked their heads out of windows and doors; pedestrians stopped crossing the road, drivers slowed down and fruit trucks came to a halt.
Some townspeople even wound up joining our merry little street march, doing their best to hum along, snapping pictures with their cell phones along the way.
I think we may have started something here… or at least, I hope so.
5 Comments
November 3, 2009 at 2:29 pm
So cool Teacher Kaley!!! I wish I had had a teacher like you when I was in school. Fine job!
November 3, 2009 at 3:23 pm
How fun and cute!! It sounds like you started a whole new tradition for that town!
November 3, 2009 at 6:49 pm
This is so friggin’ cool. What a great idea.
Tell your mom I said hello. We’ll miss her tonight at the tournament!
November 3, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Way to go Teacher Kaley!!! It looks like alot of fun. The children are ADORABLE!!! I have no idea how you got them to sit still that long. I love the picture w/ the costumes. Hugs and kisses to you and your Mom!
November 18, 2009 at 1:11 am
Is that ALL that happened on Halloween? Huh? Huh?
Anyway, super cute and a job well done.
And I didn’t notice how tall your mom was.