Halloween is the time that people dress in costumes, enjoy the vibe, and have fun together. Students at EF Academy joined the fun this year.
Leading up to Halloween, EF hosted a series of events during Spirit Week. This was the first Spirit Week of the school year. On Friday, October 25th students came to class in their costumes ahead of the Halloween Dance in Cena that night, where they danced to the music and used the photo booth to capture the moment.
Dressing up is, of course, a very important part of Halloween and EF students put a lot of thought into preparing their Halloween costumes.
Rai, a 10th grader from the US who dressed up as the character Satoru Gojo from the manga series Jujutsu Kaisen, said, “I chose this costume because I like the character and he‘s a somewhat recognizable figure. I think Halloween is a fun social event that can be enjoyed by anyone and anywhere.” Rai’s favorite costume was worn by a student with a wig and a unique black dress. “It was really detailed,” Rai noted, and “super cool.”
Sue, an 11th grader from Korea, said, “I want to be a bad person,” so she dressed up as a prisoner. Sue’s favorite costume was a student who dressed as the ill-fated French Queen, Marie Antoinette.
Maria, a 9th grader from Japan, dressed up as a fairy. She said, “I love my costume, because it is matching with my friend, and I love the feeling of Halloween.” Maria’s favorite costume was a student in an alien costume, which she thought was “so special.”
Cristal, a 10th grader from Korea, dressed up as an angel. “My Korean name has ‘white’ in it,” she said, “so I wear a white angel costume. I think Halloween is a representative event of western culture and has the fun of seeing various costumes.”
Other Halloween events at EF included a Universal Studio Halloween horror night on October 26th and a pumpkin carving advisory event on October 30th.
Ms. Kaitlyn, who organized the activities, said, “I think Halloween is such a fun celebration to have, and I also think it’s great because I know America is very popular on Halloween and not a lot of other countries are. So it’s great that international students get to experience a huge Halloween here on campus. We had almost 75% of the school at the Halloween dance, hanging out and having fun. And they got to experience some of that Halloween spirit that we have in America.”
Halloween began with an old festival called Samhain in ancient Britain and Ireland. People celebrated Samhain to say goodbye to summer and start a new year on November 1st. They believed that on this night, spirits of people who had passed away could come back to visit.
Later, in the 8th century, the Catholic Church made November 1st “All Saints’ Day,” a special day to remember saints, and the night before became “All Hallows’ Eve,” or Halloween.
