Eloise told me that on Thursday I would be accompanying Babou (her mother-in-law) and Alexis to Hector's American School for a Halloween party. (Hector and Alexis go to a French school and an American school. Très compliqué)
Hector was going as a ghost (un fantôme) and Alexis, as Spiderman (absolutely zero surprise there. The kid is obsessed).
It was a crisp, chilly fall day. The perfect kind for a Halloween celebration. My ears perked up as we walked in. English, so much English. Little kids running around yelling in English, mothers speaking in English, a teacher spoke to me in English. Even "Monster Mash" was playing faintly in the background. I immediately felt at home.
The party was an interesting mix of French and American culture:
There was a tray of baybel cheese at the snack station.
The "brownies" tasted like cake. Pretty sure they were just chocolate cake squares.
They served water instead of soda.
There were rice krispy treats.
All the cookies were crispy.
There were no chocolate candies, such as snickers, mars bars, milky way, reeses, twix, m&m's, etc.
There was a dad dressed of as a Yankee coach and a kid dressed up as Derek Jeter.
All the candy was Haribo.
There were no carmel apples.
I heard a New Jersey accent.
"Ma jeunesse me manque," I said to Babou. (I miss my youth). She laughed at me and said I was still young. I explained that Halloween is such an important part of an American kid's childhood, it is a cultural tradition. She said that it is not like that in France. It was popular ten years ago, but faded out. People forgot about it and grew bored with the idea. Halloween was a fad. As heartbreaking as it was to hear, I had already deduced that Halloween is more an excuse to party for teenagers than a seasonal time-of-year.
For example:
I wanted to grab some candy corn for a gift I was making Hector and Alexis. The only place that sold candy corn? The tiny American shop called, "Thanksgiving," located in the 4th arrondissement. A regular bag of candy corn cost 3.50 euro, so almost $6.00. Crazy. When I went to get the second half of my gift, at a Parisian confiserie, the woman picked up my bag of candy corn. "What is this?" She asked in French. "I have never seen this before." I explained that it is an American candy, for Halloween. She looked perplexed.
As I looked around at the elementary school Halloween party I could not help but think of home, of CVS and its glorious rows of decorations and chocolate; of college and pumpkin carving; of ghost and pumpkin cookies; of Starbucks' advertisements for the seasonal hot drinks; of an American fall. Being at this little Halloween party made my week. It was a small piece of American greatness encased in a dark auditorium with mediocre candy, but the feeling was still there.
The party
Alexis playing a game
I did see one small carton of milk duds, which I totally pocketed. No shame there. A french kid would not have given them the appreciation they deserved.
ALL I WANT (PLEASE, MOM!?)
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