Halloween at Shandong Medical School

Halloween was a delight with these Chinese students unaccustomed to this American Holiday.  I told them they could wear hats instead of costumes (as they had a full day of many classes) and they were to bring two tissues.  Several girls wore witch hats.  They bought them online.  One boy carved a hat/mask from a large green gourd.  A few boys made hats from paper plates and food boxes.  And some wore purchases masks.  It was a fun and festive atmosphere.

They especially enjoyed the family pictures I included in my lesson to show them how we celebrated Halloween at home.  They oohed and ahhed at our family costumes and carved pumpkins.  I missed our neighborhood “trick or treat” time but relished in the joyous faces of college students tasting this American custom.  They are wonderful youth!

I displayed a short video clip demonstrating how to make a tissue ghost.  There were no words.  I stopped it every few seconds so they could explain each step to me, in English. They struggled with the right words to use but every class was victorious.  They liked this little holiday decoration and I saw several attached to backpacks, some were fastened to thermoses, one boy tied it to his hair. 

We also sang along with “Witches Brew”, “Five Little Pumpkins”, and “The Skeleton Dance”.  That was their favorite.  We did it twice in each class.  After all, they are medical students. Skeletons are not “scary” to them.