TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26th:
I tapped my fingers nervously against my bag, waiting for my friend Pete to come out of the M entryway in Silliman. The life or death of my Halloween costume depended on it. American Apparel had listened to my request and derisively laughed. Walgreens turned up nothing. Even a scour of the Milford Mall had left me empty-handed.
Pete was my last chance.
He emerged from the door and I smiled. This hurried phone call before my Edgar Allan Poe class had been a success. Pete had what I was looking for.
A yellow baseball cap.
So I could complete my costume:
Yes, what you see is precisely correct. A combination of Pete’s baseball cap, Salvo clothing, a Dora the Explorer backpack, cardboard badges, American Apparel knee socks and balloons fetched every day at Party City produced myself as a loveable half-Asian boy scout, Russell, from UP. I was a hit at parties when the balloons attached to my backpack floated through a dance crowd. The best part is that another blogger, Snigdha, had the exact same costume.
But why go to all this trouble? Well…
Halloween was on a Sunday this year.
Instead of Halloween, I had Halloweek. From Wednesday until Sunday, I threw myself into festive event after festive event. Halloween at Yale this year turned out to be five days, a marathon in some sense.
Luckily, my hardy boy scout uniform was equipped for such a harrowing journey. I protected my balloons at the dance parties, gave out free hugs and attended my Master’s halloween reception. I stole all the Snickers and put them in my Russell backpack.
One of my highlights was the Yale Halloween Show. Each year, the Yale Symphony Orchestra films a silent movie and then plays an accompanying score in Woolsey Hall on Halloween itself. What’s great is that the whole school packs into the concert hall and laughs/cries/sneezes along with the movie. It’s great to see support of the arts and celebrate Halloween. The 2010 clip isn’t up yet, but I have provided a 2008 Youtube clip for all you readers to check out.
Anyway, Yalies love holidays and love dressing up. Halloween is a perfect blend of the two. My best move when I came to Yale was to bring every Halloween costume I owned to school. It’s always useful to have a reserve pair of fairy wings/flapper outfit/or sparkle hat handy. You never know when you may need them.
