Programmes d'Echange Camp America Au Pair Cours d'Anglais Kids School Resources Liens Utiles

French-American Center Newsletter

Haunted Halloween at the "FRAM"

By Kaiti Anderson

Halloween 2006 here at the French American Center went a bit differently than any I've celebrated in the United States. Here at the FRAM-as I like to call this great place-we created an atmosphere similar to haunted houses " chez moi " giving some awesome French children the chance to experience a Halloween American-style. It was fantastic. After a day (I must be perfectly honest and admit that it was only an afternoon for me) of transforming the center into a haunted foyer, graveyard, and tunnel, we went crazy with make-up in order to transform ourselves into, well, haunted people. Then the mass of children arrived. Now, I must say, this Halloween turned into one of the most frightening ones I've experienced, simply because I found myself in a sea of three year olds speaking French better than myself. It made yelling over the music to get thirty kids' attention all the easier. Pas grave. On to the festivities.

The first part of the evening we sent our group of witches, pumpkins, and Harry Potters through the haunted tunnel. Not brave enough to follow, I met my new friends at the sortie, each one informing me that they weren't a bit scared. Thus, I proceeded to scare them by dancing to the music-provided by our very own DJ Zach-o. Frightened into submission, the kids took a seat in a circle so we could play " Pass the Parcel ". Had I ever heard of this game, you might ask ? No, is the response, so I continued to dance in the middle of the circle as our fearless leader Rebekah led the jeu, every five minutes interrupting my silliness so I could chase after pumpkins and eighty's rockstars running to see their parents.

Next we braved the piñata. With a few prayers and our piñata keeper, Jillian's instructions, everyone left with no injuries, some with candy, others not so lucky. We then proceeded to join Zach-o at his station for none other than a dance party. Therefore, my efforts at dancing earlier were not in vain ; seeing me make a fool of myself made it much easier for the little ones to start. After what seemed like an hour of dancing and running after those little eighty's rockstars, we made it to " Apples on a String ". This game was quite intense and I'm surprised we didn't leave with fewer teeth than we started with. It seems simple, really, because all you have to do is bite an apple that is hanging from a string without using your hands-much much harder than you think. All went well and everyone left with an apple.

The party concluded with a costume competition for all the attendees. Yes, that meant both the parents and their children-the children strutting down the catwalk and the parents actively spectating. All in all, the evening was spectacular. I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween in France. Way to go, FRAM !

Back to our Newsletter mainpage