Well, Halloween is upon us once again!
As I was growing up, October 31st was one of my favourite a days of the year. You got to pick a costume, dress up, wear it to school, then parade around town collecting as much candy as possible.
I would go as far as devising a route to make sure I finished the night with the maximum amount of sugary treats. Pillow cases were the way to go.
Now that I’m older, I love Halloween just as much – even though I have to buy the candy myself.
I always look forward to thinking up a fun costume and making a night of it at a house or street party. Last year I hit up the biggest Halloween party in Toronto where I dressed up as a ‘One Night Stand’.
This year, like in 2010, I am abroad and Halloween just isn’t the same. North America celebrates in a big way but the rest of the world does not.
It’s a bit disappointing really as it’s such a FUN holiday.
To tackle some of my nostalgia today, I thought I’d share with you some random musings about Halloween that have come to my attention while here in south eastern Europe.
Ready? Here we go!
No Pumpkins?!
I’ve looked in market after market and pumpkins are impossible to find. I found only 2 in my last 4 countries and they didn’t even look like your classic carving pumpkin. I was hoping I could make some pumpkin pie or a jack-o-lantern but I’ll have to wait until next year it seems.
I’ve Never Been Scary
Chatting with other travellers about my costumes over the years, I realized I’ve never been anything scary, where many people make that their objective. I once was a lion but the cute and cuddly kind. I mean really, who could be scared of me anyways?
Mom, I Want To Be Claude Monet!
I’ve had a few curious costumes over the years, from a bag of skittles to Tweety Bird. Nothing tops my costume in Grade 3. I came home from school one day and announced to my mom that I wanted to be Claude Monet. She smiled and immediately called my teacher to find out who the heck I was talking about. He’s not exactly the biggest current pop icon.
My poor mother had to help her son create a costume so he could go out as an old man painter who happened to also be blind and died 70 years prior. No one know who I was – but I rocked it!
Almost Highest Grossing
Halloween is the second highest grossing holiday, with Christmas naturally being number 1. That’s insane. I was certain it was Valentine’s Day.
Snow Suits
I live in Canada and in Canada, it can often be very cold at the end of October. Sometimes, there was even snow. For this reason, unlike most of our neighbours to the south, our selection of our Halloween costume was dependent on an extra factor:
Can you fit a snow suit underneath?!
It was key that multiple layers could fit underneath so that you didn’t freeze your little tush while trick or treating. Peter Pan just doesn’t have the same impact with a winter jacket and gloves.
Aussies and ‘Squash’
With Halloween nearly upon us, I was telling my Aussie travel pals how fun it would be to carve pumpkins and make pumpkin pie. Them being the kind hearted gems that they are, they went out and bought me a pumpkin.
Problem is, what they gave me, was a squash. Whoops! In Australia, a pumpkin refers to what we in Canada call ‘squash.’ They have many forms of ‘pumpkin’ while we only have one. Blame it on ‘lost in translation.’
Mike’s Face
To finish these random musings off, I’d thought I’d share my buddy Mike, from Kick The Grind‘s, Halloween costume. Stellar and slightly disturbing.
And that’s what I got for you this Halloween! I hope you have a very spooky day, eat lots of candy and enjoy responsibly! I shall celebrate on an overnight bus to Kosovo which has the potential of being scary in it’s own special way!
