A Break To Remember: The Freshmen's Halloween Party

A Break To Remember: The Freshmen’s Halloween Party
By Sandra Ha

 

Just a year ago, most of the GLP freshmen were busy writing application essays to come to Daewon. After receiving the last report card in middle school, the pressure to go to Daewon occupied the train of thought of so many freshmen. Most of them spent Halloween locked up in academies without knowing that the date is October 31st. These were the dark ages when GLP was not introduced to any of the freshmen’s lives. After a year, thankfully, they are in GLP, one of the only few classes in Korea that celebrates Halloween.

In Korea, it is virtually impossible for students to celebrate Halloween in a conventional way. Korean residence dominated by apartment buildings has vanquished anyone's dream of initiating trick-or-treat. The backbreaking schedule of a Korean high school student has also tantalized the slightest desire of wanting a decent Halloween party at school. In this harsh situation, GLP sunbaes have cultivated a tradition in which Halloween does not go away unrecognized. They have adapted Halloween in a GLP way. In addition to costumes, make up, and food, GLP Halloween also gives the sense of pleasure that sprouts from the situation in which GLP can enjoy the remainder of October while the domestic classes can't.(Most of the times, this is a period called "Guknaeban Hell" when the domestic class takes three hours mock tests to prepare for November's Korean SAT.) 

Succeeding the Halloween tradition enriched by sunbaes, the first graders also armed themselves with the Halloween spirit. “The Halloween night was amazing. I was really excited because we had never had a party like this before. It is wonderful to celebrate Halloween in Korea, a country where Halloween is still something disparate.” Lindsay Lee, a GLP student, confirmed the joviality and excitement that was prevalent in the freshmen’s Halloween party. The party itself was pre-planned, but all of the details happened in the spur of the moment. On the day before Halloween, Ms. Lee generously allowed the first graders to bring costumes and snacks to create a Halloween ambience. Each class prepared Baskin Robbins Ice cream cake, Dumari Chicken, six boxes of Choco Pie, and Chupa Chupas. Everyone went viral when Ms. Lee opened the ice cream cake, so she allowed each student to only eat one spoon at a time. This regulation was effective in terms of controlling the eating frenzy, but it turned out to be too time-consuming. The food distribution predicament was soon resolved as the ice cream cake was dissected into six parts and delivered to each people.

A lot of students prepared costumes like the Vampire Slayer, FedEx delivery guy, McDonald’s janitor, a witch, a milk cow, a cute kindergartener, a transgender ballerina, and a pink pet dog. Some of the guys wore Daewon uniform skirts and put on intricate makeup to look like a girl for one day. One of the teachers ended up saying that one guy looked like a very masculine prostitute.

Everybody thought the Halloween party would just end as a break time costume party, but the teachers proved them wrong by extending the Halloween spirit to GLP sessions. All of the students in the class gathered in a circle to share scary stories and play truth or dare. Rosa Lee, a new student who just joined GLP, says that if she were still in the domestic class, she would be solving boring trigonometric functions while other GLP students were celebrating Halloween as a family. “I couldn’t understand why my GLP friends had so much pride on being GLP before, but now I understand. If it was the domestic class, nobody would have brought costumes even though the teachers allowed you to. But most students in GLP was in funny costumes and taking pictures with others. Halloween party really made me feel the solidarity of GLP – an element missing in the domestic class.”

Although it was exciting, some students thinks GLP Halloween Party could be better next year. “I just hoped the party could be more organized and well planned out next year. This year’s party was rather spontaneous. Many students were worried that the teachers might not cooperate, but thankfully, they did. I know it will be hard, but I hope next year’s party could be more organized with all grades involved with mandatory costumes. It will be a cherry on top if the teachers could also wear costumes.”

It is definitely not a typical American Halloween party, but the GLP adaptation has inculcated valuable memories to GLP students about Halloween. For students who had spent twelve hours a day to solve hundreds of SAT Math IIC problems, for students who had stayed up until two o’ clock in the morning to prepare for SEOMUN, for the seniors who had worked on their application essays for more than three months, and for all the GLP students and teachers who are spending the last two months of 2012, the Halloween party was a great break that shed a new light on Daewon life. This truly told all of the first graders why they wanted to come to Daewon last year about this time, when they just received their school report card to decide what school to go.

Trick Or Halloween Party, Daewon

Trick or Halloween Party, Daewon
By May Lim

             When do we really like school? When we have our school festival, when the domestic classes take model exams, and when we have suddenly gotten the notice that we have to go back to our home due to sudden typhoon, we like school. Here’s another question. When do we really have a blast in school? The only answer to this question is probably FOLA. And at this point in my school life when all the assignments and SATs and homework overlap, all I want to say is this: I WANT FUN.

 

             Compared to English speaking countries, Halloween culture hasn’t developed much in Korea. People skip over Halloween, thinking of it as a superficial ritual in which they share candies with their friends and teachers. However, Halloween means much more than that. Remember the days when you carved a jack-o-lantern yourself and had it in front of your porch? Remember when you walked around houses to houses, emptying your candy bag often so that you can get more candy? Like this, we have so many good memories about Halloween.

             In this article, the reason why we should have a celebrated Halloween in Daewon can be basically separated into two reasons: celebrating a world-wide holiday as means of broadening our perspective internationally and sharing happiness by sharing candies.

             When Daewon is all about fostering the so-called “global leaders” and expanding our domain to an international level, why doesn’t Daewon give respect to an international holiday, Halloween, as much as it deserves? With the motto “Koreans Branching Out Across The World”, getting along well with the culture around the world is an essential quality to be global leaders. Knowing how to make decent pumpkin pies, knowing which costume fits you the best, and mostly understanding thoroughly the culture itself is a big part of living in a global society. By providing these opportunities in school, students would be able to develop their abilities to adjust to different cultures flexibly, not necessarily restricted only to Halloween but also to different cultural ceremonies such as Thanksgiving or Easter Day.

             Another reason we must celebrate Halloween is sharing love. To see this in a big frame, chocolate has almost always been a tool for sharing love. On Valentine’s Day, White Day, Christmas, and on any other special occasions, people share chocolate and candies to send their love to people whom they care. While Daewon is full of competition and is all about self development, we need love. To our friends we care about and to our teachers who we always admire, we would like to show our love towards each other by sharing what we have. By sending each other chocolates, we will acknowledge how much we love each other once more, leading to a happier school life.

             With all the other benefits Halloween carries, having a holiday in Daewon will give us so many benefits, from broader experiences to contagiously benevolent school lives. Therefore, give us a break, Daewon.

How Much Do We Need For Halloween?

How Much Do We Need for Halloween?
By Lorens Lee

             People are busy a day before Halloween Day. As for lovers – though Halloween is not originally for them –girlfriends are disappointed if their boyfriends do not prepare surprise candies. For teenagers, it’s a basic axiom that they bring candies or snacks to share with classmates; for children, their kindergarten teachers prepare for Halloween parties to be held tomorrow. Regardless of age, gender, or occupation, everyone gets excited and looks forward to the day of Halloween.

             However, before the big day, there are many things that we need to buy: snacks/sweets that there’s no any other intention except revealing how many you can buy with your money, a basket to put them in which seems useless, fabulous costumes only to show your friends, and small accessories that make you hampered; the list goes on and on. So, exactly how much do we need for Halloween? The answer is “as much as you can pay.” In the year that Pirates of the Caribbean made a great hit in the United States, pirate costumes were sold for $1,000. Even Suri Cruise bought a $6,000 Halloween costume last year. Gradually and unconsciously, Halloween has come to mean more than one candy bar. Even companies make advertisements related to Halloween and mesmerize the public as Walt Disney Productions promoted their TV programs by filming special Halloween-editions. Outwardly, it seems that people celebrate the cosmopolitan anniversary, but this phenomenon actually implies that various companies abuse this annual occasion for their profits.

Also, most people lose sight of the fact why we have the Halloween Day. We expect the day because of candies or presents which can be distantly related to Halloween. Then, for instance, Korean parents of children voice and doubt about the reason of a Halloween party at their kindergartens. According to one newspaper, they mentioned, “We cannot understand why we should commemorate Halloween also. There are lots of anniversaries or parties which kids can enjoy except Halloween. It’s neither originally formed in Korea nor a formal celebration of Korea. We don’t know how much buy for Halloween and we have troubles with affording the costumes or accessories. Moreover, it does not seem educational for kids in the first place.”

Why do you feel happy with Halloween? You can amuse yourself, share delightful memories with people whom we love, or preserve the worldwide custom. Each person may have his own reasons for celebrating Halloween, but it should be celebrated basically when we’re able to be responsible of it.

The Reason We Have To Wear Costumes On Halloween

The Reason Why We Have to Wear Costumes on Halloween
By Lindsay Lee

Knock knock. When you open the door, you’ll see a bunch of kids in costumes with a big basket and saying, “Trick or treat!” Then you will give them a handful amount of sweets and see them moving to the next house to repeat the same thing.

On October 31^st, people, especially young children, celebrate “Halloween” by wearing special costumes. They usually disguise as scary characters such as a witch, a vampire, the Grim Reaper, a ghost, and Frankenstein. However, they also wear costumes of famous characters like the Smurfs, Shrek, Gollum, Batman, Joker, and Jack Sparrow the Great Pirate. Halloween is one of the most exciting days of the year for children because it is one of the few chances to obtain bags full of candy and chocolate.

Then where has this creepy holiday come from? Its origin traces back thousands of years, from the festival of the Celtics called “Samhain.” The Celtics lived where now Great Britain and Northern France are located. The Celtics worshiped nature and many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. Their year began on November 1^st, so the Celtics believed that all the dead people were called together with the bad spirits by making their houses cold and disguising as ghosts. However, the influence of Christianity spread as the Romans conquered the Celtics, and as Samhain was changed into “All Hallow Day,” so did the Eve of their New Year into “All Hallows’ Eve” by the Roman Catholic Church.

Since then “All Hallows’ Eve” became a big holiday in America as the Puritans moved from Europe, and its name has finally become “Halloween” today. Though Koreans don’t celebrate this holiday as much as Americans or Europeans do, there is an interesting piece of information which could make Daewon students get excited on Halloween. According to some of the sunbaes, there always have been a few students who appear at school with Halloween costumes on. So just in case that happens this October 31^st, you’d better prepare some sweets for those brave Halloween-celebraters!

Halloween - What Creeps Behind The Mask?

Halloween: What Creeps Behind the Mask?
By Kyung-Shin Kang

             During my younger years, Halloween carried no further meaning than being a day that was both difficult to pronounce and a sad time for shy young girls who were refused candy if they did not say trick-or-treat, which coincidentally was another hard word to pronounce. (too many “Rs”) Still, it was a wonderful experience to step out into the crisp autumn air with a bag of sweets in one hand and a frightful mask in the other. But as a Korean family that never really spent that much time carving pumpkins, I began to wonder what made this event so well loved by everyone. Getting candy was great; I just never knew what the correlation was between candy and Halloween.

 

What is interesting about Halloween is that although it was first created in the British Isles, it still remains as a quaint, small-scale celebration within that area. This is not to say that other countries do not take notice of Halloween at all as a few still celebrate the core beliefs of it in their own way. Countries in Europe such as France show respect to the dead during Toussaint, a holiday that spans from the 31 of October to the 2 of November. Some of the older generations visit cemeteries, honor saints and attend religious services. In Scotland, where trick-or-treating is believed to have originated, people show their respect by leaving their houses empty for spirits one time each year. El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a holiday in Mexico where families commemorate their beloved dead and go to the cemetery to clean up graves and share a meal with their ancestors. Even at first glance, it is easy to discern that the holiday takes a different form according to the country it is being celebrated in, even if the American variation has taken a bit of a deviation.

For one thing, you can easily see the current trends in America, from pop culture to politics in the costumes that are sold in retailers. In the early 2000s, you could easily see a scarred forehead, spectacles coupled with a broomstick or a wand out on the street. In 2003, Captain Jack Sparrow was all the rage after the premier of Pirates of the Caribbean and Heath Ledger’s Joker roamed the streets in 2008 with its painted grin. The demand for vampire outfits has risen beyond anyone’s expectations after Twilight became a part of teenage girl’s must-reads. However, pop culture is not the only area that influences children; some politically passionate kids have even managed to dress up as Barack Obama after the 2008 presidential elections. I remember that I also dressed up in a poodle skirt and feather boa as a child, something that can hardly be expected to frighten away a mean spirit. Like this, children spend time to dress up as their favorite princesses or superheroes and view Halloween as a chance to gather candy rather than as a period to remember their dead.

All in all, the U.S. has taken great lengths to create a holiday almost as widely celebrated as Christmas but has sadly lost most of the holiday’s original meaning. Any mention of death has been tastefully ignored and hidden away by smiling skeletons, cotton spider-webs and silly jack-o-lanterns that smile much too widely for comfort. It is a fairly recent phenomenon that Halloween has become such a big commercial holiday, with TV shows and movies spurting out Halloween mysticism without ever mentioning the topic of death quite seriously. In children’s cartoons, Frankenstein has a sweetheart, witches are young and beautiful and vampires neatly avoid any mention of death or sorrow by becoming handsome, dashing young men in their teens (Twilight. Everything bad always finds its way to Twilight.).

No other country matches the U.S. in its fervor and enthusiasm for pumpkins, costumes and candy, and in doing so, has become almost a hedonistic holiday. With easier access to violent images and horror movies, Halloween has become more gore-filled chaotic bedlam of a holiday where ebullient adults go around hunting for Cleopatra outfits without a child in sight. The costumes, skeleton models, and candy money results in about eight billion dollars worth of Halloween spending in America each year, only second to that of Christmas. This is where skepticism takes over and we start asking exactly what we’re celebrating Halloween for. Is it to show respect for the dead, like the French, to nurture your more pagan side by looking out for lost spirits, or has it just become another meaningless holiday for people to indulge in childhood fantasies?

The American market, which is uncommonly adroit in commercializing almost anything, has created a unique custom for Halloween. No matter what the object is, you can be sure to find a ghouly Halloween version of it. The list includes Baskin Robbins ice cream flavors “Halloween Polar Pizza”, Oreo cookies with special orange-colored filling, Hallmark greeting cards, and an assortment of decorative napkins. Typical costumes may even cost up to 80 dollars and merchandisers confess that consumers will literally spend any amount as long as it looks as good as the neighbors next door.                                        

Some people attribute this paroxysm to Americans’ fears of crime. Apparently, Halloween is a sort of cleverly devised social agreement that allows adults and children a chance to unwind and confront their stress. Maybe this is true, adolescent delinquents might abstain from committing more serious crimes by throwing toilet paper over a neighbor’s home. After all, who would know the strange workings of a teenage mind. To be frank, though, this does not seem to explain why Halloween is becoming an adult-centered holiday.

Many experts theorize that Americans’ experience with death was different in past generations than it was in today’s world. The elderly were more likely to spend their last days at home than at a hospital and infant mortality rates were higher due to a lack of medical care. For people of that age, death was not an abstract idea only implied in the media but a real thing that had an impact on their lives, making such a cavalier treatment of the national holiday almost impossible. And yet others speculate that the easiest explanation for the whole Halloween bonanza is that it stems from the baby-boom generation’s tendency to indulge their children. The author of the book “The Sibling Society” argues that perhaps Americans desire to live in a state of perpetual adolescence. Whether or not this is true, it would definitely explain the newfound affinity for dressing up.

It was not always like this in America though. Instead of this consumerism attitude, where adults are more eager to throw a costume party than children, kids were encouraged to fashion their own costumes and spend time with close families and friends bobbing for apples. Families sat together to carve jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating was a way for the neighborhood to get to know one another. But some time around the sixties or seventies, grown-ups began showing interest in what their children are doing and have picked up their old costumes.

Like its original concept of being the day of the dead, people bring out the “dead,”, or at least repressed, part of themselves with their fantastic costumes. One woman, aged 21, confessed that Halloween was the only day of the year she felt comfortable; the only day she was dressed up as someone other than herself. Perhaps the idea that people are free to become anything they wish hidden inside those masks is what makes Halloween so attractive to people. You can become a blood-dripping zombie and moan all throughout the night or a proud Cleopatra. After all, what better way to let go of all human ties than in a monster costume or enveloped in a pink feather boa.