Happy Halloween!

It’s been 13 years since I’ve been in America for Halloween, and what a difference.  It’s become so commercialized in that time that I’m totally turned off by the holiday.  I’m sure it was happening before I left, but seeing all of the Halloween-themed merchandise at the stores is utterly shocking.  Have we gone mad?

Back when I was a kid, Halloween was for kids.  Sometimes we had cheap nylon costumes with plastic masks, but often we had homemade costumes—one of our favorites was dad’s old clothes, dirt rubbed on the face and violá, a bum.  And the bought costumes were packed away in the attic, and recycled year after year.  I still have the bright orange oil cloth trick or trick sack my grandmother made me in 1967.  A lot of the costumes now are topical, so I wonder about their shelf life.  And there are just as many costumes for adults as there are for kids, and I’ve seen more dog and cat costumes (as in for your cat or dog) then I can imagine.  Why on earth would I want to dress my cat up for Halloween?  I think she just might have something to say to that, as well.

A couple of the homes here are decorated up with lights, lawn ornaments, graveyards.  It’s like Christmas done in orange and black.  I look at some of the things, and I’m tempted.  Wouldn’t it look nice to have a lawn display like that, I think.  It would be so cool.  But then I hang back, aware I’m being caught up in consumerism.  We have pumpkins on the stoop and mums, but that’s seasonal decoration.  It looks nice.  And I broke down and made up two headstones from slabs of Styrofoam that came in a flat pack desk I bought recently.  When I saw them, I said, “Look, tombstones.”  I used black magic markers and did a stone for Vlad Dracul, 1283-1898, and another for Ichabad Crane, making reference to the Headless Horseman.  I propped them up on the pine tree outside for “atmosphere”.  I thought about getting a plastic skull to add, but I restrained myself.

Part of me wonders if this is all just part of the burgeoning consumerism I see engulfing America.  Another part of me wonders if it’s my generation.  In large measure, we don’t seem to want to grow up.  Our parents saw Halloween as something for kids.  All they did was give us a curfew and inspect our candy.  Now it seems as if we want to continue having Halloween be as much fun for us now as it was then, so we’re horning in on the kids’ day.

My son sometimes gets upset with me because he missed out on Halloween.  Sometimes I’m sad he did, as well.  Now he’s still got no friends in the area, so he’s wishing he had something cool to do today.  When I think back to Halloween when I was his age—16 going on 17—I don’t remember it being a big deal.  Trick or treating was something for kids, and we were too grown up for that.  In fact, now I’m remembering what I did.  I was hired to take neighborhood kids around trick or treating, and I hung back with the other parents, feeling like I was all grown up and watching the kids at play. 

When I got to college there were costume parties for Halloween, but then back in college there were parties every weekend, so it was just a good excuse.  And we dressed up, but the girls were certainly not dressed like streetwalkers.  I still have pictures of friends dressed as Raggedy Ann, a lion, a punk, an alcoholic housewife complete with flannel jammies, curlers and a fake belly bulge, and a huge pumpkin.  And the pumpkin girl was covering a cute little figure, so sexy just wasn’t part of the equation.

Hm, sex and consumerism have taken over what was once an innocent day for children.  And to add to my shock, the woman downstairs from me told me that the kids can’t celebrate Halloween in school in order not to offend people’s religious sensibilities.  Times have changed.  Yeah, I know it’s a holiday based on pagan beliefs, but really, it was just a good excuse to dress up and get candy.  I don’t think any of us took the witches and goblins any more seriously than we took the witches and flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz.

Poor kids.  Poor America. 

And lest you think I’m a total curmudgeon, I have a plastic bucket full of candy, and I’m actually anxiously looking forward to the trick or treaters tonight.  I love the costumes, I love the excitement, I love the childish faces enjoying a rite of childhood.  I don’t mind buying the candy, either.  But I don’t want to buy into the need to buy “stuff”.

Musing on New England

Every day, I think, I really want to write something.  And I never do.  I think I should just be more a blogger and less an essayist.  Just write and do it.  But the writer in me resists.  Too much training, I guess. 

Getting into the swing of things again.  Weird, to say the least.  Had to change my driver’s license and register a car.  That was interesting.  The Mass Registry of Motor Vehicles people are much nicer than the people I used to deal with at the Dept of Motor Vehicles in NY.  Sorry, NYers.  When I mentioned it to the man behind the counter, he was happy at the compliment.  He also said that they are trying to be more customer orientated.  So maybe that’s a general shift that has happened in the past 12 years while I was gone.

But I’m not sure about that.  Sometimes I think Massachusetts is a new country I’m living in.  Yes, it’s the United States, but it is very different from New York.  Not better, not worse, just different.

I used to tell my American Culture studies students that New York and New England were very different places.  The other AmCul teacher was from Connecticut, so we made a good visual.  I’m loud, pushy, sarcastic and threatening, at least to students.  She’s soft-spoken, sweet, polite and motherly.  I’m motherly, too, if you think of an alley cat as a mother.  If you annoy me, I’ll bat you upside the head.  But knowing the differences and living the differences are, hm, strange is the only word that comes to mind right now.

Right now the Sox are in the World Series (a name that used to annoy my European and Asian students no end–”What do you mean world series?  How arrogant!  It’s only Americans.”  I used to tell them there were Canadian teams, as well, but they weren’t buying it.  Baseball is BIG in Taiwan.)  Now when the Yankees make the series, there is jubilation.  But this is odd.  Students don’t do their homework!  They have to watch baseball.  My sister is the world’s most devoted Yankee fan, and even she doesn’t get this excited.  Of course, she’s currently in mourning.

But back to New England.  I used to tell my students that the United States is made up of 46 sovereign states and 4 commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  Each gives up part of that sovereignty to the federal government, but the people think of themselves as citizens of their state first.  I am and always will be a New Yorker.  And these Massachusetts people are different.  Right now I’m working on analyzing the why.  It’s not the accent so much as the attitude.  It’s certainly more homogenous here than it was in NY, but that’s not it, either.  This one will take some time.

 Was in Boston the other day.  Unlike New York City, it has a small town feel.  This isn’t to say it’s provincial.  I like Boston very much, but it felt more like Geneva than London, to use European examples.  More Dublin than London.  But that is probably more to do with New York than Boston.

I truly believe there are a few international cities in the world, and they are the only places that share the same vibe–New York, Tokyo, London.  Sorry, I haven’t been to any South American big cities or other Asian cities.  Taipei doesn’t have it.  I don’t think Paris and Rome do, either, but I haven’t spent too much time in either city.  So while I muse on this, let me get back to grading papers.

A message via the Broad

I haven’t got time to write, but I still have time to pass on important information.  So here you go.

 All Bloggers and Webmasters: Place a “Free Burma Banner” in place of your daily blog Oct 4th:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6760367115
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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
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A Day of International Action for a Free Burma

 

Free Aung San Suu Kyi & Support the Monks in Burma

Saturday 6TH OCTOBER 2007

Time: 12 NOON in every major city across the world

We are marching in solidarity with the monks and ordinary people of Burma who are risking their lives for freedom and democracy.

We appeal to all religious and secular communities across the world not to look the other way while the people of Burma cry out for international support.

Now listed as en EVENT “A Day of International Action for a Free Burma (Oct. 6th) Worldwide” all cities and locations will be posted there shortly.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
10 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE PROTESTERS

1 – PROTEST- Look below in “Recent news” for details of worldwide protests.

2 – SPREAD THE WORD- Invite your friends to this group, email all your family and friends, write to local newspapers

3 – CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL- they will respond if enough people contact them.

4 – EMAIL COMPANIES STILL IN BURMA their email addresses are listed here http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3071

5 – SIGN A PETITION there are lots listed here
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3175

6 – KEEP UP TO DATE -READ SOME BLOGS/WEBSITES We’ve compiled some great resources http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3231

7. EMAIL YOUR NATION’S EMBASSY IN BURMA, asking them to open up their WiFi networks for our contacts to utilize. We’ve had reports that the internet is down to keep reports and pictures IN Burma, we need to do everything we can to make sure they get OUT. Your embassy’s contact info will be on your country’s ministry/department of foreign affairs webpage. http://www.alloexpat.com/myanmar_expat_forum/foreign-embassy-in-myanmar-directory-t5.html

8 – CONTACT EXTERNAL MEDIA. If you have any updates pass them to the press via details listed here http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3232

9 – BOYCOTT CHINA – Think about boycotting Chinese goods. http://leedsac.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3223

10 – BROWSE THIS SITE At the bottom of the page is the constantly updating wall with up to the minute news on protests and what is happening in Burma.

_________________________
OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO

DONATE money to the Democratic Voice of Burma:
“”The Democratic Voice of Burma was established in Oslo, Norway in 1992 and is broadcasting radio and TV to Burma. Due to current events, transmissions have increased to 24/7, which is very costly. To donate visit their website at http://english.dvb.no/ “

CONTINUE EMAILING those associated with the Beijing Olympics
http://ubc.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6524045893
http://ubc.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3351

LOBBY your education institution’s Student Council or Student Union to pass a resolution in support of the Burmese Peoples’ Protests and in condemnation of the Military Junta’s actions. While a symbolic gesture, it gives hope and keeps the issue at the forefront of people’s minds.
http://studentsforburma.tiddlyspot.com/#Welcome

SUPPORT The Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma. This is a group that has been working together with activists inside Burma for many years, and the Australian side is headed by a high-profile local council official. They are currently trying to get equipment INSIDE Burma to get news OUT – which ties in with what we’re doing, as we’re trying to SPREAD the news Far and Wide and KEEP it in people’s minds. Information about their activities can be found at http://qutedu.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5100614153
and http://www.burmasolidarity.org
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***EMERGENCY NUMBER ISSUED BY UN IN BURMA***
Please be informed that the UN Designated Official in Rangoon has established a 24 hour hotline in case of emergency, especially during curfew hours. The numbers to call are: 01 554 597 or 01 554 625. Please pass this to all people inside Burma. This is a Rangoon hotline that should be reached immediately.
__________________________

BURMA OR MYANMAR?
If you are confused why some people call it Burma and some Mynamar please read this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7013943.stm

In brief – It’s known as Myanmar in many countries and at the UN. But the UK&USA don’t recognise the legitimacy of the regime that changed the name therefore still use the pre-military dictatorship name (Burma).

HOWEVER, that being said, it’s important also to recognise that some people choose to call it Myanmar as Burma was the name given to the country during British colonization.
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“The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.” – Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

I am still among the living

Um, this was written a while ago, and I thought I posted it. 

Some have been wondering.  Yes, I am alive.  Yes, I will be back.  I have a million (or a few) entries I’d like to write, but I’ve had no time.  Sorry about that.  This moving continent things is the pits.  And yes, I am suffering Culture shock, so there you go.  So stay tuned.  The Broad will be back.  Hopefully before the end of the month.