Spooky World
Happy Halloween! In America, we celebrate Halloween by dressing up in funny costumes, going to Halloween parties and going trick-or-treating. But, have you ever stopped to consider how other countries celebrate Halloween? We have many international students who come to this school, and we have immersed them in American culture, but we have never thought about the American holidays in their home counties.
Senior Sol Park, who is from South Korea, has a unique perspective on this question: “I would definitely be happy to share it with you, but the problem is that even if I’m an international student, I’ve been living in Kansas for seven years, so I don't really know how popular Halloween is in Korea. All I know is that we do not celebrate Halloween as much as Americans do because there are tons of Americans in Korea and we all communicate through the internet today. Halloween is getting more popular and college students kind of celebrate Halloween, but younger kids in Korea, like middle school and high school students, are very competitive and only focus on education. They don’t really celebrate holidays until they get into colleges.”
Senior Cara Cheng, who is from Hong Kong, does not really celebrate Halloween where she is from: “Most people in Hong Kong don’t celebrate Halloween. Especially my previous school is a Christian school, we cannot celebrate it. We don’t have trick-or-treat so I have never received any candy on Halloween before. However, theme parks in Hong Kong will have haunted houses and will be decorated in the theme of Halloween. People will wear costumes to enter it. Therefore, except for the people who are going to the theme park, most people will not wear any costumes.”
Freshman Gina Lee, who is from South Korea, said that she did not celebrate Halloween there. However, when she was asked her perspective on Halloween, Lee says, “The first thing I think [about Halloween] is candy, and I also think about scary stuff like ghosts, and I feel like when Halloween comes, I feel creepy, sometimes, for no reason at all. I don’t think too deeply about it, just the candy and costumes.”
Faculty Sara Asher, our local Histrographer, knows a lot about other cultures. When asked about Halloween in said cultures, she says, “Mexico, and other Latin American Countries, celebrate Día de Muertos, which is the Day of the Dead. The movie ‘Coco’ is an excellent representation of this. They remember dead relatives who have died, and there is lots of food taken to cemeteries, as well as pictures of dead relatives which are put on shrines at home. There is a lot of celebration, but it isn’t like the celebration like we do here in the United States, where you would go around and beg for candy. In Europe, I don’t believe they go around begging for candy, but in some cultures there is a tradition of dressing up. I think in most cultures, there is a tradition of dressing up to scare away the evil spirits this time of year, because the nights are getting longer. But mostly, it’s a lot of dressing up and having fun.”
So whether you are from the good ol’ USA, or from some other country, you can celebrate Halloween. Dress up in a spooky, weird or funny costume, and go get some candy. Have a very spooky day!
