So everyone back home is celebrating Halloween tomorrow. I myself watched The Shining, my favorite horror film, to celebrate last night. Wednesday might involve the usual mischief, but Halloween isn’t that big here.
At the golf match on Sunday, one of the older gentlemen asked me, as an American, about Halloween. He said he had received word that some “young chaps” were planning to come by his house to “Trick or Treat.” He said he researched what it was, and his question for me was “what do I need to offer to these lads to prevent them from throwing eggs at my house or the like?” He didn’t know if he needed to give them money, “condoms” (his idea), or what. I told him some chocolate should be just fine–he seemed relieved. No, the big holiday here is Guy Fawkes Day (of V for Vendetta fame in the US). “Remember, remember, the 5th of November…” (you’ll get the whole rhyme in a couple of days). There are bonfires, fireworks, and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes around England.
Also, now that it’s almost November, people are getting ready for the other big English holiday–Remembrance Day. Everyone wears carnations on their lapels. It’s amazing–and commendable–how seriously the British take their legacy of loss.
Back to work!
