so it’s halloween week.

i’ve never been one for teaching holidays. in fact, most of the time i can’t be asked to give more than the barest mention in class that a holiday is even taking place. there’s a passage in a laurie halse anderson book that i always think of when this subject comes up. i just looked it up, and here it is:

We are studying American history for the ninth time in nine years. Another review of map skills, one week of Native Americans, Christopher Columbus in time for Columbus Day, the Pilgrims in time for Thanksgiving. Every year they say we’re going to get right up to the present, but we always get stuck in the Industrial Revolution. We got to World War I in seventh grade—who knew there had been a war with the whole world? We need more holidays to keep the social studies teachers on track.

but in this job, teaching halloween is part and parcel of the whole cultural exchange thing. most everyone has heard of it, but they don’t really know what it is, or why people observe it. (when it comes to that, neither do most americans.)

i want to tell my students here about the history, the stories and beliefs that led to all of the traditions. but is it hypocrisy–making halloween out to be a much better and more meaningful holiday than it actually is in practice?

sigh. far too often, i feel like the only thing american culture has to offer the world is a load of freshly expelled, commercially-driven crap.

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