Happy Euroween!

Halloween in Europe is nothing to get excited about. There are no pumpkins, no candy corn, and no costumes. The lack of holiday spirit in Europe (especially the Czech Republic) inspired me to teach my Czech students about traditional American Halloween rituals, only to realize it's more of a "you have to be there" kind of holiday. My large arm motions and funny words earned me some crazy looks. Maybe I just looked like a childish American, but I refuse to hide my Halloween spirit. It was actually refreshing to teach my students about a new part of American culture that they didn't already learned about from movies and TV shows.

I'm all about carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples, costume parties, and haunted houses. If you recall last year I participated in the Columbia Zombie Walk. There were no zombies shuffling down the streets this Halloween, but I did visit the Joker (aka Ariana) and her s'more of a dog in Vienna, Austria. Jon and I attended a mostly American Halloween party which was invaded by a clan of Batman villains. The costumes at the party were incredibly resourceful and artistic. Along with the villains was Mr. T, a Care Bear, Mexican Dia de los Muertos skeletons, and many many more. Creativity is at its best when Walmart's convenient pre-packaged costumes are a continent away.

We celebrated Halloween with a appropriately named American drinking game called "Circle of Death". The "nine is a rhyme" card got a bit more complicated as English words were rhymed with German and the other languages represented in the circle of doomed poetry.

This Halloween I did not dunk my head into a bucket of water in search of a juicy apple. I did not pay a ridiculous amount of money or stand in a long queue to scream my head off as a man chases after me with a chainsaw. But I did get to look at All Hallow's Eve from another angle this year. I have realized that it is a rather absurd Americanized holiday but it is something that I love to participate in because it is a fun excuse to wear a crazy costume and play childish games with friends.