Knock Knock
japra | Oct 30, 2009 | Comments 14
TRICK-or-TREAT!
We found these at the big grocery store the other day. I love how they have stuck on faces—LOL. Plus the instructions on the box–in English and Spanish! I was just reading about Jack-o-Lanterns on Wikipedia and found out that though carved pumpkins weren’t associated with Halloween until 1866, pumpkins have been associated with autumn a long time before then. Pumpkin pie, anyone?
The Dutch don’t do anything special here for Halloween… at least I don’t think they do. These pumpkins at the grocery store are the only signs I’ve seen of Halloween. In a town nearby, expat Americans will be marking their Halloween participation by having jack-o-lanterns on their front step. Kinda like a secret handshake ;-)
When we lived in England, everyone lived so far away from each other that the school actually organized a “Trunk or Treat” (if you follow that link, you can read about how Halloween is handled in England–lol). Here’s what we did with our car that year.
Last year, Roxi and her friend dressed up as Elphie and Glinda from Wicked, their favourite musical. This year, the high school kids will wear their costumes on Monday… that should be interesting!
Happy Halloween! I hope someone out there will enjoy a caramel apple for me. But watch out for your teeth ;-)
XO
Filed Under: Blog • Expat Life • Featured
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Weird not to celebrate Halloween…I miss caramel apples and candy corn!
Kathy, in a way it’s kind of sad to be overseas during times like this. Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, they’re such a part of our culture. It’s a strange feeling to celebrate Thanksgiving alone. And also a lot more work–haha!
I always used to associate pumpkin with harvest time which was a big celebration at our Methodist school up near Liverpool. (Most of the schools were church schools in those days).
Oh, that is nice. Did they do costumes and candy too? Or was it just a fall party?
I love how you decorated your car when you did Trunk or Treat. I’ve heard those events are great because the kids get a lot of candy in a short amount of time (…wait…is that a good thing?).
It looks like retailers might be trying to introduce Halloween to the Dutch…when you start celebrating Thanksgiving over there you’ll know it’s time to move on!
It’s great that Roxi and her friends are still dressing up. Last year my son hardly got any…age discrimination…he’s not dressing up this year.
Ha! No sign of Thanksgiving so far.
Ok, that is just sad that your son didn’t get candy last year. I ALWAYS give candy to people if they’re dressed up. Well, I gave candy out to everyone, but it made me crazy when the older teens would come by with a grocery sack and no costume. I mean, COME ON! At least try.
The trunk or treat is fun for everyone. And the school asked all the kids to give half of their candy to a pool for the high school boarders, so the hoard wasn’t too bad. The weird thing was finding loose candy in the bag. I think that probably came from non-American parents who didn’t know how paranoid we can be about Halloween candy!
I think his lack of candy must have also had to do with the fact that he was dressed like Monk (the OCD detective on tv). It involved a white button down shirt and khaki pants. Nobody got it.
Julia, it sounds like your boy is wonderfully creative. Too bad people didn’t share his imagination.
Happy Halloween! I was thinking to just draw a face on our pumpkin this year instead of carving…lazy lazy…these look good.
Christine, I think that is a good idea! Then the pumkin lasts longer and you can cook it if you want. Back in Texas, we had to wait one or two days before Halloween to carve our pumpkin or it would get moldy and gross.
Happy Halloween JAPRA! I think the last time I dressed up for Halloween was my Sophomore year in college – I was Punky Brewster! I hope Roxi has fun this year!
LOL! Hmm. I can’t remember the last time I dressed up. Oh dear.
Today is supposed to be our day to carve pumpkins. My daughter, Krissy, is always the instigator. Last year she was away at college in Virginia and the house looked pretty drab.
Tricia, I hope you have fun! I hope you’ll post photos on your blog. Do you roast the seeds?