Last weekend it was spooky Halloween, and this weekend it was Guy Fawkes day! Having these two so close together made me think: why do the Brits seem so into this scary stuff?
Halloween
I’m used to dressing up in the cute version of the super skanky outfits out there (or as the Brits would say “slag”). I have my cute Pocahontas costume, that Vaudeville dress from 4th grade (hey, if it still fits, it saves me money!), and I think I went as a rockstar at some point because I got to wear jeans. You go to the Halloween store and the options are Sexy Nurse, Sexy Cop, Sexy Nun, Sexy Teacher, and Sexy Mentally Ill Patient. Yes..that’s actually an option:
Heh. It’s called “Anita Valium.” Clever.
In the UK, though, Halloween seems pretty much to only be celebrated by little kids who go trick-or-treating in some neighborhoods, and uni students who go out raging at clubs….covered in blood. It’s actually terrifying. Everybody is in a costume, a lot of them just as skin tight and revealing as the ones we have, but then they are covered in white make up, with gore all over them and fake blood coming out of everywhere. A ton of them have weapons too. It’s pretty ridiculous! I had to ask the idiotic question “Why are you all so…scary?” and the obvious response was “It’s Halloween!” Well duh. I guess that is the point. I just realized now that I pretty much lived out the iconic Mean Girls Halloween scene where the queen bees dress up in lingerie with ears and Cady comes in as an “ex-wife”…
Clearly Lindsay Lohan was just on the wrong side of the pond:
I think the weirdest costume I saw was a girl on the tube covered in white paint, sparkles, blood, and with a black painted nose. So I guess she was a zombie sparkling-vampire dog? Makes sense.
Anyway, it was still pretty fun dressing up. I opted out of the fake gore since I was cheap and bought a mask for a masquerade ball I didn’t make it out to (tears, they were sold out). But Beccy & her friend Connor and I attempted to go out! It’s the effort that counts right?
I think Connor was a…bloody lumberjack? And Beccy a bloodied substitute teacher? We never actually figured out her outfit hahah. She had these super awesome contacts in earlier that freaked me out, but alas, we worried about important things in life like losing her eyesight and all.
Guy Fawkes Night aka Bonfire Night aka The Fifth of November!
So the Bonfire Night I experienced was actually really tame and not scary at all (just the way I like it!). We went to a park for a free fireworks show and it really was fun! It was the first time that everybody in our group managed to get together - everybody has been traveling and studying so much!
Me and Becs:
Margaret and her friend Julian came to visit! During their stay in my room, I definitely over thought how I could sneak them into the building without signing them in (even though it takes 5 seconds) I’m kind of weird:
Devon, Matt, and Sarah:
Jake, Jake’s friend, and Sebastian: 
So while we had a grand ole time, I asked Beccy (contributor of Beccy’s British Bit) what usually happens on Guy Fawkes Day, and she said pretty much aside from the fireworks they build a giant multiple-storied bonfire:
And at the top hang an effigy of Guy Fawkes to burn. Kinda like this:
Oh, you hadn’t heard? Guy Fawkes Day is a celebration of that crazy Catholic guy by the name of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up Parliament but didn’t…so they have a holiday dedicated to it and blow up fireworks and bonfires and Guy Fawkes dolls instead! Hahah it sounds like the craziest thing in the world, and I am a little bummed I didn’t get to see a giant bonfire, but it was still a great night out :)
On another, completely random note. Margaret’s friend, Julian, is studying abroad in Spain right now and brought me the most awesome biscuits ever! Hilariously enough, they are called Filipinos. So yes, I absolutely love eating Filipinos:
Ah! Just look at them! Yummy biscuits covered in chocolate! They kind of taste like Pocky sticks but more satisfying. Thanks, Julian!
Paris with Mads this weekend!