By Thomas F O'Neill
I always enjoyed celebrating Halloween, even when I lived in
China. But I did miss the pint-sized spooks visiting me on this particular
occasion because the President of China, Xi Jinping, outlawed this ancient
tradition commonly celebrated worldwide.
I always bought various bags of candies for
trick-or-treaters, and I would put up a glow-in-the-dark skeleton on my front
door. It was not a real skeleton like the one in the Bio-lab at the school
where I taught. It was just a store-bought one, but scary nonetheless. I think
that attracted all the pint-sized visitors on howling nights.
The kids didn’t say ‘trick or treat’ like American kids.
They would say - ‘Gěi táng jiù dǎodà’, which means 给糖就捣蛋 if you didn't know that
already.
One little witch yelled,“Hello Mr. Tom!!!” when I opened my
door. She was holding a large chopstick for her magic wand. I opened the little
witch’s bag to see what goodies she possessed. I then proceeded to take a few
of her candy bars and a bag of M and M’s.
“Hey,” she said in a little perturbed voice, “Mr. Tom, you
are supposed to give me Candy.”
“Oh,” I replied, “Is that how it works, so do you know any
tricks?”
She then started singing, “If you’re happy and you know it
clap your hands …..”
“Oh, stop,” I said, “you are scaring me.”
I handed her a couple of candy bars, and she yelled, “thank
you.”
“Good, now go away,” I replied.
“What are you doing?” she asked me while staring at my
laptop computer on my desk, “Oh, homework, I hate homework,” she said as she
turned and headed out my door.
Others also came on that hallows-eve, reminding me of the
fun I had as a child going door to door. It was followed by mischief night. The
only real mischief here was the fireworks kids set off in front of my apartment
building and sticking a half-eaten apple in my glow-in-the-dark skeleton’s
mouth.
Boy, I could teach those little buggers about the mischief I
did as a child.
I'm afraid I had to disagree with Xi Jinping's ban on the
ancient tradition of Halloween in China because I no longer had a way of
getting free candy.
Don't let the ghouls, zombies, and ghosts get to you on this
frightful occasion !!!!
But for all you young spooks out there, I would like to wish
you a fun and Happy Halloween 👻 🎃
Always with love
Thomas F O'Neill
Email: introspective7@hotmail.com
WeChat - Thomas_F_ONeill
Phone: (410) 925-9334
Skype: thomas_f_oneill
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