Happy Halloween!

Although there were many Americanized aspects to life in Okinawa, there were still times I was surprised to find a Western tradition recognized on the island. This was certainly the case with Halloween. I wasn't sure if there would be any costumes or trick-or-treating, but just like the stores in the U.S., the 100 Yen store was filled with decorations and costumes starting in September.

Armed with 300 yen each (about $3), the girls picked out their costumes -- a cape, hair accessory, and fangs for Maddox, and a cape, hat, and wand for Zoe. I bought some face paint so they could pass as a vampire and a witch respectively.

One of the faculty members at OIST organized trick-or-treating for kids in the faculty housing. There was a map of which houses were providing goodies, including a stop at the President's House.

Our not-so-wicked witch

With less than a dozen houses to visit, one might start to feel worried for our kids and a small Halloween haul. Fear not! Most houses gave out bags of goodies to make up for the small number of doorbells to ring. It was definitely a fun time going through the candy -- lots of taste testing new things, most of which were not nearly as sweet and sugary as we are used to.

And then there was the bourbon and coffee. So that was good.

The next morning the kids got dressed up again to go to a Halloween party sponsored by OIST at Onna no Eki, the local farmer's market. There were many costumed kids, some from OIST, some from Onna Village. Each child had to say their name, age, and what they were dressed as which was then translated between English and Japanese as necessary. Zoe refused to do any of it, but Maddox ultimately found her courage to show the world her inner vampire. Also, the weather felt like the inside of an oven, so that was nice.

Each child walked away from the Halloween party with a bag of goodies, including some cute souvenir shisa. Zoe's goody bag was particularly heavy. When I opened it, I found carrots and potatoes along with the goodies. I don't know if the farmer's market was just randomly giving away veggies or if we walked out with someone's groceries. 

All in all, it was fun to experience a familiar tradition in a new place, although I look forward to returning to our regular neighborhood trick-or-treating for 2015. I missed sneaking Butterfingers and Reese's Peanut Butter cups from the kids' stashes!