When Americans do something, they go all the way. This Friday, it was Halloween (gallery here) and there was nowhere to go, should one feel like avoiding it all. Already during the morning, people were wearing their costumes — on campus. And one of my students was actually a little freaked out by a giant Frank bunny from Donnie Darko before getting to class. Good stuff :-)
I biked through town and saw elves and vampires walking on the sidewalk as if it was very natural for them to be there. I find that very cool. We had a Halloween dinner at our house in the evening but unfortunately only one trick or treater (probably because we live close to the university and hence do not have many families as neighbors).
On another note, Eugene is really beautiful in the Fall. This also applies to Denmark but it is really noticeable here because there are SO many trees. It is a real joy to walk around campus!
Not everything is perfect though. I have a sprained ankle from last Friday which is really irritating me. I hate using crutches. By the way, one really realizes how nice the free health care system in Denmark is. I have to pay around $100 for the examination and x-ray. Now, I can hope this is covered by my insurance and even if it is, I still have to send papers to the insurance company to get money from them. You know, the same principle as if one gets stuff stolen. It is pretty absurd and I hope for the Americans that this will gradually change. I think it starts with Obama as president but they seem very allergic to tax changes. Tuesday will be exciting.
I will now return to the books (actually Eclipse but almost…).
2 responses to “Fall and Halloween”
Dear David,
Nice to read about Halloween. Traditionen er jo kommet til nogle lande i Europa-ikke så meget i DK. I Stockholm så jeg 100 meter lang kø uden for en udklædningsforretning i fredags, så det er ikke så mærkeligt at dine svenske venner klæder sig ud. Og at klæde sig ud som en fuld svensker er jo let. Var du præsten ved djævleuddrivelsen? Jeg er lige hjemme her i formiddag,-men flyver til Bxl i eftermdidag-stay cool. God bedring med anklen. God valgdag i morgen!
kh Johannes
Hmm, jeg er lidt i tvivl om du har kigget ordentligt efter… det er MIG, der er den fulde svensker, og det er netop pointen med udklædningen, fordi jeg ville lave lidt sjov med mine svenske roommates — de synes i øvrigt ideen var god. Lidt skuffende at du ikke kan kende din egen søn ;-) Præsten er Thomas, en amerikansk fyr, og vi ligner muligvis hinanden lidt i udklædning…