Our school began Halloween Week on Saturday. All the teachers wore costumes, and some of the kids did too. (Bonus: I can wear jeans instead of a suit under my costume!) The first day was pretty fun. Hell, any day I can wear a monkey suit is pretty fun! Some of the students were a little freaked out, but most of them enjoyed it. Here’s a photo of our staff (clockwise: Miwa, Rieko, me, Yumi, Saori):

Halloween in Japan is a really surreal experience. Halloween is still a pretty new thing here; most people don’t celebrate, but everyone who does really gets into the spirit of it. The best part is that nobody knows a thing about Halloween — just that they get to wear costumes and have fun with crazy foreigners (it’s a rule that every foreigner goes out on Halloween, so I imagine most Japanese view is something like if the zoo came to town for a day and they’re all invited to play with the animals). Remember that this is a country with a totally unique fashion sense. Some people dress up in the most elaborate Halloween costumes every single day of the year; the ones who are interested in individuality or standing out in this pretty conformist culture really take the concept to its utmost. And of course, since everything in Japan is cute, the costumes you can find here are so cute your eyes could bleed. Unlike in the US, where gory costumes, horrible latex masks, and bizarre monsters are the standard costume fare, in Japan you have a choice between being really cute, or really cute and sexy, or making your own costume.

So after the work day, Yumi, Rieko, and I took a train up to Fukui and went to the Fukui Aeon branch’s Halloween party. It was quite fun and lively. Afterwards, a handful of us went out to a club in Katamachi where the International Association was hosting a Halloween party, and spent a long time there. As the last train home from Fukui is at 11:00, I pretty much had to stay for the night. But it was loads of fun, and we drank and danced a whole lot. Then I crashed at Peta’s (one of the Fukui Aeon teachers) house and we watched a bit of Grindhouse before we both passed out.

It was a really fun party (parties) but as I had to work in the morning I had to wake up early and take the train back to Takefu. I managed to get a shower, so I was fine for the Halloween lesson (two teachers and only one kid and his mom… very special!) but unfortunately someone had spilled beer on my monkey suit the previous night, so I smelled like a drunk hobo… at least my right sleeve did. So I was very careful to always face my left side towards the mother. Yeah, it was a bit awkward.

So I had a really busy weekend, but I’m ready for work tomorrow. More monkey suit wearing! (This time I had time to wash it thoroughly.) Also, starting tomorrow I will be going to two Japanese lessons per week, because I really need to improve my speaking.