Halloween is just around the corner, with children in the U.S. preparing their costumes and dreaming of candy. The holiday is ubiquitous in the States, with stores preparing displays and treats as early as late August. When I moved abroad, I was sure that I would still be able to celebrate one of my favorite holidays. Christmas is celebrated in many countries, after all, so I thought Halloween must be, too.
I would have known better if I’d had Living Abroad! When I first moved to Japan, Halloween wasn’t celebrated outside of English classes. Even when retailers realized there was a market and it began to gain popularity in the late 2010s, it became more of a holiday of cosplay and cuteness than horror, with the biggest event being young adults taking over the Shibuya district in a giant street party. Not even every English-speaking country shares a long Halloween tradition – Australian friends were bemused when asked to prepare Halloween lessons for their students as a cultural experience when they didn’t celebrate in their own childhoods.
In many Asian countries, the “spooky season” of ghosts and haunted houses is July and August, and any nods to Western Halloween are purely commercial. Nigeria’s ghost festival, Awuru Odo, takes place every two years and spirits are said to stay from September or October until April. Even if your new home does celebrate Halloween, it may look different than you are used to. Catholic countries may roll the holiday into the November 1 All Saints Day celebrations. In Italy this takes the form of Ognissanti, a family holiday where bone-shaped sweets are eaten. In the Philippines, instead of Trick or Treat children participate in Pangangaluluwa, in which they dress as ghosts and go door-to-door to ask for prayers for souls in purgatory (and receive sweets in return).
Holiday activities are one of the most fun ways to understand a new culture, and if anything can be said to be universal, it’s enjoyment of costumes and sweets. Not only does Living Abroad provide information on holidays in the Orientation section, Get Ready to Go tells assignees what holiday items are likely to be available in their new home, so they know whether to pack their witch hats and skeletons or if they can spare the room in their boxes and buy similar items abroad.
Happy haunting!
Written by Kate Havas, GMS-T, Content Manager
