Last week was Halloween, and of course Adrian really tried to give it all to see that his students had a good time. Adrian decorated his school with about 100 spiders, small, medium, and large. They were attached the walls and ceiling with double sided tape. It was a cool site for the kids especially, as well as creepy for some. There were photos and scary pictures put on the wall. He also had a fog machine and a scary mechanized head with hands that moved up and down and filled the room with moan like screams. Adrian wore black cloak with a “Scream” mask, and I wore a British Army outfit, as well as carried one of Adrian’s extremely realistic life size machine gun / bb guns. The lights were turned off when the students entered the room, and they were a little taken aback, mostly possibly just because they didn’t know what to expect or even what to think. It’s just not a normal event for most Japanese people. I spoke to the students, asked if they were scared and mentioned that Adrian was out getting more candy because we had run out at the last minute. But Adrian was not at the store. He was in the other room climbing out the window onto the small balcony, and as the students were seated and focusing on all of the sights and sounds as well as focusing on my questions, Adrian sneaked around to the window that was just behind the couch the students were sitting on, and then just as they were getting relaxed Adrian reached through the window, screamed and grabbed at the students. They were scared out of their wits. It was perfect. The students admitted to being very scared, but I could tell they really enjoyed it. We took some pictures with the students as well, so maybe in the near future Adrian will post a pic or two.
I’ve been in Japan only for about one and a half years, and the last 10 years or so before I left America I hadn’t gotten dressed up for Halloween, and hadn’t cared much about the holiday. I especially tried to stay away from the huge crowds on Hollywood Boulevard, which was 4 blocks from my house. I just didn’t participate. This year however, even though I only participated in Adrian’s School Halloween event, it made me nostalgic for when I was a child and would go trick-or-treating in my neighborhood with my friends. It just made me think of how special Halloween is and how much I actually missed it. I was very surprised. I guess I just took it for granted when I lived in America. But it really is a great holiday, not only for children but for adults too.
Jerry
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