Life in Fukuoka, Japan: Halloween fun at the community center

Well, today was my mom's first day out and about in Japan. She was so fortunate because we were going to be the presenters at the community center's Halloween celebration. There is a group of kids that participate in different events and presentations throughout the year. They had not been exposed to Halloween yet, so it was fun that we were going to be a part of that.

I had agreed to go to the community center and present and then I realized it was the first weekend that my mom would be in Japan. Luckily, she agreed to go with me. Once I told the person in charge at the center that my mom was coming with me she quickly incorporated my mother into the presentation. How lucky was that for my mom???

We arrived at the center around 9:10 AM, and then we went into a meeting. During the meeting we went over what the agenda and found out what the game plan was going to be. Once the meeting ended we went upstairs to put the decorate. We had some different Halloween garland and a couple of spider webs. It looked nice for what all they had.

There was one board that had posters that I had made which showed different Halloween traditions or activities. The other board had a map of the world on it so the students would be able to see where my mom and I were from.

There were over 70 people expected, 50 of them being children and the rest adults. We began on time and were introduced by someone at the community center. All of this was taking place in Japanese. Now, the plan was that the children would try to guess where we were from, but as the lady was introducing us she said we were from America. All of us who were involved knew that she wasn't supposed to say this so we all began to laugh. Luckily, I had a clever idea for them to guess where in America we were from. The first guess was California. At least it is located near Arizona.

Once the introduction was over I was to explain the origin of Halloween. You might be wondering how my Japanese became so good...it didn't. I did this in English and then Mariko would translate what I said into Japanese. I have to admit that before this presentation I never looked up the history of Halloween. I had found one that was kid friendly. It really does have an interesting history. Now a days I feel that Halloween is more of a commercial holiday just to sell more candy, cards and costumes.

I was to read my book first. I read In the Haunted House written by Eve Bunting. It has great pictures and the story rhymes. It is a short read which was perfect for this situation. Once I finished the story I was to preform a magic trick. Yes, that is right....a magic trick.

The magic trick was thought up and prepared by the woman in charge. I have to say that it was a neat idea. It didn't happen as easily as it was supposed to though. She had put white paint on the bottom of a water bottle cap and let it dry. She put orange paint on another bottle cap bottom for my mom to use. I told the kids that I was so thirsty. When the lady gave me the bottle of water I had to tell the kids that I did not want water that I wanted milk or Calpis, which is a popular drink here in Japan. If you know me at all you know I would never drink milk. YUCK! I got the bottle and began shaking the bottle. This was supposed to make the water turn into the milk looking drink. Well, I shook it and shook it and shook, and nothing happened. I kept shaking and shaking it and finally it began to change color. At this point we decided to give my mother her water. Luckily for us, her water turned orange must quicker than my bottle changed.

It was then my mother's turn to read her book. She read the book Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting. The students enjoyed the book. At this point, we were able to have a break from being the presenters.

Now, it was time for the mummy activity. We divided up the kids into three groups and we had three volunteers to become a mummy. I still do not know if the students really know what a mummy is, but it was fun for them all the same. The kids did a great job taking turns wrapping the toilet around the women. In the end the mummies were completed wrapped up!

The kids then put the rest of their costumes on and began the fashion show. The kids were so precious. I just can't get over how adorable some of them were. Some of the costumes were simple, but they added just the right touch.

My mom and I were then directed back to the chairs where the kids were lining up. It was time for them to practice saying "Trick-or-Treat". Some kids were so shy that they weren't even able to say the words. Many of the kids could pronounce it quite easily.

After the trick-or-treating it was time for closing words. We all said thank you to the kids and they said thank you to us. Once that was done we cleaned up and had a debriefing meeting. All in all it went rather well. My mom and I finally headed home shortly after 12:00 PM.

We went to the apartment and met up with Mark. We headed out to Marinoa City and had a delicious lunch at Il Forno. Yum!!! We walked around and looked at some of the shops and then headed home.

We have been relaxing every since then. Tomorrow we are going to Noko Island. I am looking forward to sharing the beauty with my mother.

More to come!