Holidays Abroad

We have had a busy two weeks in Nanchang. We taught many classes, we attended the opening ceremonies for the sports meetings that took place on Thursday and Friday (and therefore we had no classes), and we celebrated our first major American holiday from the other side of the world!

I have celebrated Halloween in 4 different countries, but I have to say this one was the most unique! As foreign teachers we were invited to two different Halloween parties on campus: the undergraduate party and the graduate school party (both hosted by their respective Oral English Associations). These parties consisted of costumed guests (we went forth with the motto “fake it ’til you make it” in our heads, so I decided that my Taylor Swift t-shirt counted as a costume), party games, candy, dance performances, singing performances, and a lot of new friends!

The three of us *new* foreign teachers all teach undergraduate students, so we knew a lot of people at that party. One of my students showed me a game where we competed to see if we could get a Pringle from our foreheads to our mouths without touching it with our hands or letting it fall to the ground. There was a balloon popping game as well (stomp on the balloons tied to someone else’s feet before they stomp on yours). The music was mostly English songs with a few Chinese songs mixed in. We also got to hear a performance of “Red” by Taylor Swift from one of the students who played guitar and sang beautifully. 

At the graduate school party we knew almost no one - until about 20 minutes into it… then we had so many new friends that it was difficult to keep track of them all! We heard a performance of “Lose Yourself” by Eminem (the student that did this rapped impressively!) We also saw a pumpkin carving competition and Nate participated in a dance game. It was all fantastic!

At one point, another foreign teacher not from the United States approached me to ask, “Is this what prom is like?” No… it wasn’t quite like prom. But it was absolutely as fun!

We left with ~20 new contacts each on QQ (one of the popular messaging/social media APPs here) and pockets full of little candies that we have yet to try. Of course, Halloween is almost over from where I am sitting, but for those in the United States it hasn’t even begun yet! So, without further ado, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!