Before coming to the U.S., I had celebrated Halloween in Germany, but I had never experienced anything quite like American Halloween. I knew about trick-or-treating from movies, but seeing how much effort people actually put into celebrating it was one of the things that surprised me most.

One of the first things I noticed was how much effort families put into decorations and costumes. Many houses are decorated with pumpkins, skeletons, lights, and sometimes even entire Halloween displays in their front yards. Some families set up candy stations outside their houses, sometimes days before Halloween. The costumes are also interesting. Parents often put a lot of effort into creating them for their children, but they are not necessarily meant to be scary. Children dress up as their favorite superheroes, movie characters, or people they look up to. In Germany, costumes tend to have more of a spooky focus, with ghosts, vampires, and witches being common choices.

Another big difference is the atmosphere in the neighborhoods. On Halloween evening, there are children everywhere, often walking around in big groups with their parents or other families. People sit in their garages or on their front porches, handing out candy and talking to their neighbors. Some even leave bowls of candy outside if they are not home, so children can still take something. I also encountered some unexpected alternatives to candy, such as potatoes and bananas, which was something I had never seen in Germany.

For me, it was also one of the first times I really got to walk around an American neighborhood. I noticed how much space there often is between houses and how big some of the yards are. Combined with all the decorations and people outside, it made the whole experience feel very different from what I was used to.

In Germany, Halloween is celebrated too, but in my experience, it is generally a smaller event. Trick-or-treating usually involves smaller groups of parents and children, and people tend to hand out candy at their front doors rather than spending the evening outside with their neighbors.

What surprised me most was that Halloween here is not just one evening when children dress up and collect candy. It feels like something the entire neighborhood prepares for and participates in. I really enjoyed experiencing a tradition that was familiar to me in a completely different way.

Dancing With The Stars is a popular television show where professional ballroom dancers are paired with popular celebrities. The pairings come up with fun team names. They also post a lot of videos on social media. Once the pair bonds and practices together for a few weeks, the show begins. One season lasts for nine weeks, and each week the couples get a new song, style of dance, and costume. The hosts of the show are Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro. The judges for the show are Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli. They score the couples each week, but the couple’s fate is not determined only by the judges' scores. It is also determined by viewers' votes! You read that right, folks: viewers at home can vote for their favorite couple. All you have to do is text the celebrity’s name to 21523. Since the viewers have a say in who wins and loses, it has become a very popular trend for fans to make a pyramid of couples on the show and try to determine who will win. So, I have gone around Dee-Mack High School to determine which dancing pairs students feel strongly should win the Season 35 Mirrorball Trophy. Some students have mentioned Jenna Dewan and her partner, Val Chmerkovsky. Others have said Amber Glen and her partner, Pasha Paskov (the recent winner of sexiest professional). I also heard some students mention they are voting for Ezra French and his partner, Daniella Karagach. I personally believe that Julia Stiles and her partner, Ezra Sosa, deserve to win. 

Nonetheless, the couple that had the most votes at Dee-Mack High School was Connor Wood and his partner, Rylee Arnold. I agree; they have improved tremendously within the past few weeks. The judges scored them very poorly at the beginning of the season, but as of last week, the couple finished with a whopping score of 37/40 and received their highest scores of the season. The scores are based strictly on the dancing and how the judges felt about it. Each judge scores out of 10 for each dancing pair. Stay tuned for more information and updates on this show and do not forget to turn on ABC at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights! 

Halloween is a seasonal holiday that celebrates the souls of the dead. Decorations, such as the jack-o'-lantern and tombstones, are used as mediums to guide the spirits of the dead. In today’s modern world, Halloween is much less of a ritual and more of a competition to one-up your neighbor when it comes to decorating. This year, it seems as though decorations have become a lot less common, with the majority of the houses having nothing more than just one pumpkin outside.

There used to be a house near the beach of Heritage Lake that would go all out for Halloween, creating a full haunted house for its trick-or-treaters. This year, however, the owners did not decorate because of their age. This is a clear example of things dying off over time, and decorations are one of those things. With items being so expensive now, decorations such as lights and props have started to decline as people prioritize other types of decor. It seems as though time eventually wears down traditions. 

Yet there are still people who stick with tradition, coming together with their families or friends to make something beautiful. That is why there will always be a group of people who decorate in this day and age, no matter how small. It is rare to be close to others, and people can hardly come together to make something beautiful. This is why people value those traditions so much: they need something to bring them closer to the people they love. Decorating for Halloween allows people of all ages to celebrate the spookiest day of the year. 

If you adore the Christmas season as much as I do and want to get started early, I think that November 1st is an acceptable time to decorate! Although, from what I have discovered, this topic is very debatable. The majority of the staff at Dee-Mack High School agreed that anytime before Thanksgiving was completely ridiculous. However, Ms. Putney made it very clear: “It’s never too early,” which would make sense for why her house is already decked out with decorations. She mentioned that she currently has 12 christmas trees. TWELVE! Ms. Tompkins, Officer Kitts, and Mr. Reiman agreed that “Any day before Halloween is too early to decorate.” My family decorates on November 1st. We usually do all of the decorations at once, including decorating the tree. I personally think the night of Thanksgiving is a perfect time to put the tree up. So, if you are known to bring the magic of Christmas into your home as early as possible, decorating in early November is a great way to bring a smile to everyone’s faces. But it is different for everyone! 

It is officially fall and with that comes new flavors and scents. I took it upon myself to go around the school and interview some people about their opinions on pumpkin spice. I asked Gabby Vitale: Do you like pumpkin spice? She responded with, “I personally love pumpkin spice and I like going to Starbucks to go get drinks from their fall menu.” When I went and asked Mr. McLemore the same question he stated, “I don’t care for flavored coffee in general but I do enjoy a good pumpkin spice burner melt.” I asked AJ Studebaker: Where do you get your favorite pumpkin spice flavored drink from? AJ shared, “I really like to go to Starbucks and get the pumpkin spice latte.” I also asked Serenity Smith the same question and she responded with, “I don’t care for pumpkin spice drinks. However, I am excited for the winter when I can get my sugar cookie latte with sugar cookie cold foam and red and green sprinkles from Starbucks.” All in all, Dee-Mack High School has many opinions on pumpkin spice and whether they like it or not.

I have never had a yard sign of my school in my front yard. I have been to five different schools in two different countries before coming to the U.S., but I have never seen anything like the connection people here have with their high school. School sports and teams are not just an after school activity–they seem to be part of the community and school life itself. 

Sports teams here really seem to represent the school itself. Students wear jerseys with the school logo on them, and if you take a look at the gym or the school, almost everything has the school logo on it. Everything is in the school colors. There are also big events like Powder Puff, Homecoming, and football games almost every Friday.

At first, I didn’t really understand why people cared so much about school sports. But after going to the games myself, I realized that it is not really just about watching sports. It is also about meeting people, spending time together, and being part of the school community. The game is almost like an event for the whole town. 

In Germany, for example, school is seen more as a place for classes and education. Of course, we have school events, friendships, and sports teams, but having so much school pride and being like, “This is my school,” is not as common. We also do not have school sporting events that bring so many people together, especially not something like a football game almost every Friday. 

My German school does have a big basketball team, but hardly anyone really cares about supporting it. We have shirts with the school logo, but wearing them, especially in public, can almost feel embarrassing or weird. Nobody really wears their school colors just because they are proud of their school. 

Coming from that background, the amount of school spirit here was one of the first things that really surprised me. As someone who has experienced both sides of this difference, I would definitely prefer the school spirit I have experienced here at Dee-Mack. I really like being part of a community where school is not only about classes and grades, but also about spending time together, supporting each other, and feeling like you are part of something bigger.