The Swiss are more concerned about getting up to the graveyard the next day, in the daylight, to light candles and dance around the graves with flowers.
Halloween decorations consist of only pumpkins.
They dance around graves?
Well ..... maybe not dance around too much.
It's weird to me because you decorate your house with skeletons and the next day people go to the cimetery, I hope I don't offend anyone by putting the halloween decoration in my entrance????
Halloween is a pagan festival, whereas All Saints Day/All Hallows Is a Christian - predominantly Catholic - one.
It all depends whether your neighbours are pagans or Catholics.
Well...I'm christian and I have a lot of christian friends that celebrate halloween and in America, everyone celebrates halloween, even christians...I don't know what to do now.
Well, mostly people here do not decorate (apart from maybe an autumnal collection of gourds) or celebrate Halloween. In the 10 years we've live here we've only ever had one set of kids come and that was when there was an American family living in the street, but they were the only ones.
There are pockets of American households around Basel who organise trick or treating between them, but generally Swiss kids don't do it. They don't do any Halloween themes or crafts at school either.
To be honest I'm with the Swiss on this one. I just can't get over the idea of sending your kids to random peoples houses to threaten them if they don't get sweets. I know in the US this is all glossed over into a fun activity, but I don't know..... just the whole concept really doesn't appeal to me. I won't be sending my kids out to do it, but I probably will have an emergency bag of candies if anyone does show up so we don't get eggs thrown at our windows. And that on it's own is an argument against Halloween - being scared into buying sweets as I don't want bad things to happen to my house.
I don't get it.
Threatened into giving treats?
Trick or treat isn't "gimme a treat or you'll get it", it's (supposed to be) requesting either a trick or a treat to be given. At least, that's how it generally works in the US, maybe it's different in UK.
Anyhow, to OP, I'd suggest to maybe make up little candy bags for your neighbors out of a plain paper sack (or small boxes or whatever) that you can decorate yourself. It may help get them a little into the spirit while appeasing your desire to make the holiday fun at the same time.
I'm really looking forward to next year with my nephews. This year they went to a pumpkin farm and the elder one got a big kick out of carving a jack-o-lantern, so hopefully next year I can do a fun (not too scary) Halloween party and include them.
I cant imagine that someone would get offended by skeletons.
Although some years ago we decorated our apartment door, with some spiderwebs ghosts and some other items nothing big. But still our grumpy old neighbor from downstairs needed to lecture us on how unswiss Halloween is, But he was special anyway a former cop, and like I said a grumpy person younger people like me celebrate Halloween to some point, I will go to a Halloween rave (costumes are mandatory) I hope it will be fun
It's cool! Especially the skeleton
Too funny and how true
Cute costume (and cat) indeed
Btw: Where did you get those cool skull mugs?
The next time I visit a small US town, I'm going to march up and down the quiet neighbourhoods in a costume and grotesque playing a piccolo and throwing confetti at passersby.
The point being, the Swiss don't really do Hallowe'en - though you do see Hallowe'en stuff in the shops.
If I was you, I'd set something up with expat friends that their kids can go around each other's (and your) apartments and Trick Or Treat.
In the UK, Trick Or Treat is a relatively new phenomenon. Up to the 1970s, early 80s we would dress up and knock on neighbours' doors and get sweets etc without the trick part. People would also play games like duck-apple at home etc.
A couple of years back we were with my 4 y.o in my parents' village in Yorkshire. There, the people on the street organised Trick Or Treat for the kids between them, and they had various treats and parties going on along the street. Suggest you organise similar.
Cheers,
Nick
Thanks for your suggestion but I don't have friends lol. We are here only 4 months
So organise something via EF...
I don't know, people in the building are so quiiiiiet, you can here a bug fly. I don't see myself bringing 20 people, making noise, and arguing with the neighbours.
Nov 1st is like the Memorial Day in the U.S. where you go to visit the graves of family and friends. So having anything about ghosts or graves etc. up on Nov 1st is looked down upon here. Most think pumkins or some fall decorations are ok. But they don't like kids dressing up like the dead the night before and celebrating it. We now put up a few things only on Halloween evening and take them back down afterwards. We do get about 6-8 kids.
There is always this...
This was My house in the UK last year, I am not sure I will do anything in Switzerland this year but maybe next depending on how the swiss react to it.
Scarrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
I kept it like that for almost 3 weeks, the dog used to bark at the hanging heads every time they caught his eye, It was for a halloween party that contained loud music lasers and smoke machines.. Ran the whole thing from a server controlled via my iphone! ;o)
I think I found them at a trusty $2 shop in NZ, and they had been filled with candy. Love those shops you can pick up some great bargains.
Think I might have to start stocking up on my trips back home again and bringing stuff back to Switzerland hehehe. Am already thinking about my 40th birthday in 2 years time, and maybe a Zombie theme hehe.