By HE Wenyi

On Oct. 30th at 6:00 pm, the English Corner was held regularly in the library. This week’s topic was Halloween. Mr. Ian McHugh, Mr. Charlie Reis, Mr. Joe Rudynski, Dr. Phillip Stevenson and Mr. Chris Dockstader were present.

Students gathered in circles with the foreign teachers, talking causally and joyfully. The majority of foreign teachers enjoy celebrating Halloween. The students wondered how they would celebrate it in China. Mr. Chris Dockstader told the students excitedly that he would join in a Halloween party beside Tangjiawan. But the students were sorry to hear that Mr. Joe Rudynski was a little sick and he would like to have a rest in his apartment the next day. At the same time, Dr. Phillip Stevenson told the students that in his opinion, there was no festival better than Halloween for he could still have feast and dress up to enjoy the parties without buying gifts on Halloween. Students made jokes upon him by keeping saying that he looked like a handsome vampire. Being glad to hear that, he made faces to the students. However, when the students referred to Halloween, Mr. Ian McHugh, with a belief in God, showed little interest in it. He explained that Christians tended to stay away from ghosts so they actually didn’t like Halloween very much.

Apart from telling the students their plans on Halloween, the foreign teachers also shared their interesting experience on Halloween in their childhood. As the time flew, the English Corner came to an end. Through the communication tonight, with a better understanding, the students learned more interesting culture of foreign festivals.