Long time, no post

First and foremost - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Secondly, I apologize that I haven't been writing in here as often as I would've liked to. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with that in the near future!

For the time being however, I'd like to express my disappointment with the extent to which Halloween is celebrated here (or rather, the lack thereof)! In case you don't know, Germans (and most of Europe for that matter) don't celebrate Halloween - no trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, etc.
Yes, American culture is slowly spreading over as far as Halloween is concerned, but as of right now that only means that bars host Halloween parties, and you don't see many of the clever Halloween costumes that American college students are known for - rather, their costumes tend to stay on the dark/goth side - lots of black. The other type of costumes are worn here around Carneval time (more to come on that later).
I spent yesterday giving a presentation on Halloween to my fifth graders, and that reminded me of just how much I miss our traditions! (Needless to say, they LOVED it...although that might have had something to do with the fact that I brought in candy and made them yell "TRICK OR TREAT" at the top of their lungs) We did Halloween puzzles and games, and ended the class with some Halloween music (The Monster Mash, etc). It was great to see them so excited!
So today I'm off to visit my friend Emily in Bochum (a city about an hour away), and we're going to miss Halloween together by going shopping, carving pumpkins, making carmel apples, and watching Halloween movies.
To those of you back stateside, take advantage of our fantastic American traditions - I expect to see pictures of everyone's costumes!