Wan Sheng Jie in China

"Happy Halloween!"

I have taken the opportunity to celebrate Halloween for the past three days. Friday I dressed up in my costume for my students at SEPIS. I was only teaching two classes that morning, but most of my students got to see me, because all of my classes are on the fourth floor of the same building. We had a good time talking about Halloween and learning about the American cultural traditions of the day.

I was also invited to some Halloween parties on Friday night and Saturday and Sunday. I was very busy going from place to place, but it was nice to have this time to celebrate one of my favorite holidays.

I decided to be a "Rainbow" with "clouds" for Halloween, so I went to my tailor with a picture of a dress to ask her to make it. I took two Chinese friends with me (Jenny and Chelsea). The tailor said she couldn't make it because it was too complicated and she had never made anything like that before. She was afraid she wouldn't do a good job and I wouldn't be happy. So we left and went to another tailor I have used in the past. The second tailor was happy to make the costume to my design specifications.

Next, I hired a make up artist to help me with my make-up. This woman owns the shop where I have gone in the past to have my nails painted. She usually does make-up for women for their weddings. We negotiated a price and she agreed to come to my apartment at the school to create my "look" each morning (Friday, Saturday and Sunday.)

Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy them and I hope you had a great Halloween and that you had lots of Trick-or-Treaters. I didn't have a single one, for some reason.

That's the make-up artist behind me in the center photo. Her younger brother is a student at the Ag University here in town and was able to translate some sentences into English for her. She had them written in a notebook so that we could communicate while she was working on my face. Some examples: "Do you want both eyes to look the same?" , "Show me your clothes." , "Can I have the pictures?" Here I am enjoying my caramel apple at a party in my Sunday make-up.

This is me having false eyelashes applied. We tried to give me a "cloud" look with a "blue" theme on my face on Saturday. I had little puffs of feathers on my shoes and around the hat to represent "clouds" but I am not sure whether or not anyone understood that.

Me with a student at SEPIS. His hand gesture means "smile". This was taken on Friday.

And finally, this is a favorite NEW student this semester. She is very clever and helpful in the classroom. I didn't teach her class on Friday morning, but ran into her in the hallway during the break. I think the Chinese thought that I was most beautiful on Friday because the false eyelashes that day made my eyes look VERY LARGE. Personally, I liked Sunday the best, but I was happy with all three days.

It was a good time! I think six other foreign teachers dressed up in costumes for their classes at SEPIS. We drew quite a crowd during the break when we gathered together for a group photo. All of the students came in a mob to take photos of us with their cell phone cameras!

A few times, I had to leave the campus in my costume and hail a cab. I had no problem getting cabs and the drivers just smiled warmly at me and told me I was beautiful. I explained that it was "wan sheng jie" and they understood. I even visited my friends Frank and Christy so that their little daughter, Hannah, could see me in my costume. She wasn't scared of me at all-- just very curious to see her "American Auntie" looking so different. Here is a picture of Hannah in my hat.

I can't wait for Christmas!!!!!

written by

Warner on November 1 from Tai'an, China

from the travel blog: Tai'an City

Send a Compliment

Warner is the best techer for Chinese students,the way of teaching is enjoyable and make students know the cutural in a relaxing and understandable way.No matter where you are,Warner is welcome.

written by alicechangq on November 6

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