Halloween Party

Today I packed up my goodies and walked to the train station with an armload of Halloween paraphernalia. I got lots of looks from the other passengers. It reminded me of what Azusa said the other night. She was invited to a Halloween party, but getting on a train in full costume can get a lot of attention in a country that doesn’t observe the holiday.

I got to school and worked through three classes, and then I had the rest of the day to study and relax. I split my time between the teacher’s office and my classroom, in a blatant attempt to dodge the history teacher.

After school the ESS students gathered along with the cooking club to have the party. We had a good turnout, and Satomi-san had the recipe all figured out. We made some cakes with pumpkin frosting. My aunt Nancy had sent some sprinkles and they were a big hit with the girls. Kuniko had contributed some cookies, chocolates, and candies. I brought along some tiny pumpkins, and they also went nuts over the Pixy Sticks that I had brought from America. It’s pure sugar, and these girls were all over it.

The cooking club girls were great to hang out with, and their group dynamics meshed with ours pretty well. Everyone was struggling with English, but we managed to communicate. I just tried to stay out of the way and help when I could. The history teacher somehow found out I was in the kitchen cooking and came to visit – he startled some of the cooking club students.

The girls asked me about Halloween in America, and we had a mini-lesson talking about it. Everyone was impressed with the holiday – it’s clearly not a big deal around here.

After making the cake we had a mini-feast, and then we delivered the leftovers to various teachers. I gave a piece to the vice-principal in an attempt to curry favor. We’ll see if it works down the road.

Now I’m back home. I’ve caught a cold, despite all the vitamin C I’ve been taking. This weekend will be mainly resting – between my knee and my cold I’m feeling like an invalid. It’ll be nice to get some serious rest time, although it’ll make for some boring journal entries.


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