Different types of Halloween

Halloween 2016 has been a quiet one for me.
I have been studying most of the day.

On the other hand, the last few halloweens have been different each year.

Most of the years when I was univeristy in Japan I dressed up and went to the halloween event was at the student hall or/and dress up for the halloween IAC(Intercultural Affairs Committee) dancy party as an IAC member.

In Japan Halloween is quite a new thing that the country and society are processing slowly. There have been problems especially in the middle of Tokyo on the Halloween weekend, there are a lot of people walking around in costumes and going to bars and having fun. However, because of the amount of people gathered at one area the traffic stops and the cars can not move at all.

When I was in the UK I had to experience the pumpkin carving and went to a birthday party.
Two of my friends had their birthday on the 31st of October and we celebrated together.
In the UK I also went to a bar which was pop culture themed and it was turned into a halloween event venue. It was quite spooky and I remember half of the time being a little scared of the decorations.

In Australia... I think Halloween is quite a new thing for Australia. The party supply industry loves the promotion and the sales for costumes for children and young adults who participate and enjoys it.
On the other hand there are the older generation where they only see it as an advertising, commercial event for people to spend more money.

I can see both sides of the argument but at the end of the day,  I think if people are enjoying it that is the best thing! For example, I made some ghost biscuits and dressed up as a witch and I enjoyed it.


One day, I would love to experience the true American Halloween in the future.

Ellen    

Felting for the first time!

Late January, I visited my friend's family house in the suburb of Sydney.
It was a really good opportunity to get out there and see different parts of Sydney.

I really enjoyed my stay there with my friend's family.

The family has a Russian background and we talked for a quite a long time about Australia.
I have also learned a little about Russian culture. I wound every thing curious!

Most of all, I have learned about felting.
I knew about felting but I have never had a chance to do felting.

I found it quite difficult because we had to layer and layer wool, and then rub the wool under a net with water and soap. It took a very very long time making felt.
Did you know that when you making it, the wool shrinks 2/3 from the original size?
We were on the table rubbing wool with wet hands for the whole evening.

It was also my friends first time to do felting so it was a challenge for her too.
She made the cat cover for a teapot and I made a mug cover with sheep on it.

It was a very good and new thing that I was able to experience and I am grateful for that.

I will love to experience interesting things like this more often!

Ellen.