English Topics Halloween in the United States
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Alisha: Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha.
And today, I’m joined in the studio by…
Michael: Michael. Hello.
Alisha: And today, we’re going to be talking
about the Halloween experience in the United States.
So, we’re going to share some things about
our experiences as children, and perhaps as
adults, with Halloween thus far.
So, the first topic for discussion for today
is our favorite costume.
This is something that we’ve actually worn
at any point in time for Halloween.
So, what’s, for you, what has been your favorite
costume thus far?
Michael: So, this was a tough one to think
about because the fun costumes I’ve made,
I had more fun making than wearing them.
I made like a Megaman costume, a Megaman Jedi
costume, that’s pretty cool.
But, my favorite was the kissing booth.
So, this was one of those easy–you know,
you don’t make it, you go to the store and
you buy it and it just has like plastic PVC
pipe in a square with a red curtain and like
text that says, “Kissing Booth.”
It’s really easy.
My friend had it, it was last-minute, I didn’t
have a costume, he said, “Hey, you should
use this.”
And, it was a lot of fun.
But, it was before–you know, I was still
young so it wasn’t this like crazy, passionate,
drunken.
I was 15, so it’s just a peck but it was the
first time to get kisses and stuff and it
was my funniest memory of wearing a costume.
Alisha: Okay, okay.
Yeah, that’s a good one.
Mine, I went a different route, I picked a
character, actually.
I went one year as Tom Hanks from “Castaway.”
So, I had just a ripped up white T-shirt and
I just bought a pair of old pants at the thrift
store and ripped those up a bit and I made
my hair really, really big and kind of put
some like fake bruising on my face and then
I made a paper mache Wilson, the volleyball
that he had with him on the island.
I made like the handprint and everything on
it and carried that around.
“Castaway” was a famous Tom Hanks film
from—oh, gosh, 10 or 15 years ago now.
I don’t even know when that movie came out.
But, “Castaway,” Tom Hanks is stuck on
an island by himself, his only companion is
a volleyball that has a bloody handprint on
it and he names the ball and like—well,
you’ll watch the movie.
So, yeah, I chose to go as Tom Hanks character
from that movie that year.
Yeah, like you say, it was more fun to make
the costume than it was to wear the costume,
almost.
How does one trick-or-treat, by the way?
Michael: Ah, trick-or-treating is basically
going door-to-door to your neighbors, usually
with your parents, so that there’s no dangerous
kind of possibilities.
You knock on the door and you say, “Trick-or-treat!”
There are five or six cute little kids and
costumes, and then, whoever’s living there
gives you candy.
The most common thing is you just get a pillowcase.
But, they also have–they want to sell a plastic
jack-o'-lantern.
Alisha: Yeah.
Michael: Which the jack-o'-lantern is like
the pumpkin.
I think most people know that and it has the
cut holes.
It’s plastic.
You can buy those or just a pillowcase, you
can get it full of candy and you go to as
many houses as you can try to get as much
candy as you can.
And, if you’re kind of mischievous or whatever.
You’re greedy or you want to maximize your
candy profit, you plan, beforehand, with your
friends and you go, “Okay, we’re going to
skip that neighborhood.
That’s the poor neighborhood.
they don’t give anything good.
Let’s go to the rich neighborhood and we’ll
hit it.
And then, if we change costumes, you can go
twice and get twice as much candy!”
Alisha: That’s hardcore!
Michael: But, you know.
Or, you can just go, “Treat-or-treat!”
your neighbors and yeah.
What was your trick-or-treating experience?
Alisha: I was a much kinder trick-or-treater.
Michael: You didn’t con your neighbors?
Alisha: No!
Michael: That’s a typical United States
kind of…
Alisha: Really?
Maybe.
I don’t know.
We didn’t really plan it out.
I think my parents were just like, “Let’s
go and let’s make sure the kids have a good
time but let’s come home.”
And then, when my brother and I got old enough,
we didn’t really want to do it anymore.
So, we would stay at home.
But one of the things that actually bothered
me about that phase when I got too old to
trick-or-treat but I would stay home and they
give candy to the kids.
There would inevitably be this handful of
kids who were too old to be doing it.
They would come in like these…What?
Michael: Too old.
That’s my…
Alisha: Too old.
Michael: My trick-or-treating experience.
Alisha: Were you that kid that would come
to the door at 16 and you’d have a mask, like
a ski mask or something and then just jackets
and would be like, “Trick-or-treat.”
And, there’d be this little row of like five
and six-year-old kids in their costumes and,
“Weee.”
Then, there’d be this guy that walks up with
a pillowcase in the end and I was like, “Come
on, dude.”
And, like, “What are you doing man?”
Was that you?
Michael: Yeah.
Maybe.
Alisha: Aww.
Why?
Michael: Well, we were in the weird in-between.
I had a babyface.
I went through puberty later so I still look
like a kid.
And so, some of my friends were older.
They were those kids and that’s when we planned
it.
When we were old enough to go on our own,
that’s when we plan, “Okay, we should go
to the rich neighborhood and this and this.”
Before, yeah, you just go with your parents
and they’re tired, they don’t want to walk
around, they can just buy you candy.
So, they’re just like, “Okay, let’s go around.”
You have fun, you go around just your neighborhood
a couple times and you just love the idea
of it.
I mean, it’s pretty easy to please a kid.
But, yeah, there’s that awkward in-between.
Once you get like armpit hair and facial hair,
your voice gets deep, cut it.
Don’t do it anymore.
If you don’t party too bad, stay home, do
that kind of thing.
Yeah, you’re asking earlier, what was my experience,
were there any costumes that were kind of
hard to wear.
I remember one.
I asked my stepmom, I wanted to be the—what
was that called?
Pumpkin on the head, he rides a horse.
Alisha: Ah!
The Headless Horseman?
Michael: The Headless Horseman, yes.
So, I wanted to be that.
I think there was a movie that came out.
I thought it’s really cool.
Alisha: “Sleepy Hollow.”
Michael: “Sleepy Hollow,” yeah.
It was cool so she made one for me.
And, I remember, just the head, it was an
actual pumpkin on top of my head.
So, it would bobble around and stuff.
And so, tiny little kid bopping around, I
kept half and go back to the house, duct tape
added to the costume.
Until, eventually, I just took it off and
then you just get–I think it was a Jason
mask.
There’s always the plan B costumes.
Alisha: Yeah, that’s true.
Michael: The lazy costumes that you’re like,
“Okay, let’s just give up.”
You put a sheet on your body and cut two holes
and you’re a ghost.
There are the lazy, poor costumes that I think
that was the plan B.
Alisha: Right, right.
Okay, so, when you did go trick-or-treating,
was there anything that you got that you were
just so excited to receive.
Michael: Oh, yeah.
Alisha: Was there a favorite candy?
Michael: Yeah, I put the best, the okay and
the worst.
So…
Alisha: Very organized.
Michael: So, the worst is Tootsie Rolls.
I don’t know.
I hated Tootsie Rolls.
They don’t flavor.
It’s more of like an old people candy and
I think it’s cheap.
And so, you get those and you’re like, “Ugh.”
That was like 30-40% of my bag was Tootsie
Rolls I didn’t want.
Alisha: Yeah, it’s like a chewy chocolate.
It’s really small.
Michael: It looks like a cat turd, you know.
It’s really…
In general, just no good.
Alisha: You always paint such vivid images
with your words, Michael.
Michael: Then, the medium that I liked, that
most people didn’t like but I loved.
But, you get so many of them, it’s hard to
really love them are the candy coins and that’s
like essential Halloween candy, right?
Alisha: Actually, that was my worst.
Not because I don’t like them because candy
corn is perfectly good but when you get the
candy corn, inevitably it goes to the bottom
of your bag and it’s just like hanging out
down there and you’re like, “I don’t know
if I should eat this.
I don’t think I will.”
Candy corn is the thing that you keep in a
dish in your grandma’s house, another thing
that you give out.
And, that’s also one of those safety things
that they tell trick-or-treaters like, “Don’t
eat any loose candy that you find in your
bag because if it’s not actually wrapped up
and someone who could have done something
to it.
Yeah, so, whenever I got candy corn, we were
always like, “Who did this?”
Michael: They stick together and melt.
Alisha: You get the kind of mutated corn candy.
Okay.
And then, what was the best for you?
Michael: The absolute best and this, I think,
is more unique to the United States experience
is peanut butter.
I loved either Reese’s Pieces or the absolute
best was Butterfinger.
Not because Butterfinger is better than Reese’s
but because it’s bigger so you get the king
size.
So, basically, you want the biggest bang for
your buck.
You know, you want the most amount.
And so, a lot of times it was the bite-sized
version.
These tiny little–it wasn’t good enough.
So, when you had–that one house– like you
said, it had the lights on, it had tons of
decorations, you knew they meant business,
you knew they were generous, they were like
a newlywed couple or something, or old people
who are lonely, I don’t know.
But, for some reason, they had tons of decorations
and they invested a lot of money on Halloween.
So, you’re like, “Yeah, go to that house!
Go to that house!”
And, you get a king-size Butterfingers bar,
it’s awesome.
And then, there’s the candy corn in that stuff
so it’s just like pale in comparison.
I love that.
Alisha: Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you’re right.
I love peanut butter.
Reese’s peanut butter cups, even today, I
cannot buy them because I just eat them instantly,
all of them.
Well, that was like all of Costco, gone.
But, when I was a kid, though, now, I’m in
the same boat, I love peanut butter and dark
chocolate, oh, mama.
It’s so good.
But, when I was a kid, my favorite things
to get were Skittles or Smarties and actually,
I found them.
I was going to eat these before we started
filming this video but I found these over
in the snack corner over there.
Skittles.
Skittles are just a fruity-flavored small
hard candy.
And then, Smarties, I feel like there are
two camps on Smarties.
Smarties are kind of a chalky–I don’t even
know what they’re made of.
Just like a chalky sugar.
When I was a kid, and even now, I don’t know
why.
Something about the act of eating it was very
pleasant.
Michael: Hmm.
Alisha: It just had a weird consistency to
it and I like that.
And so, I would always just slowly eat them
one tab at a time.
Even now, I’m like.
“I wish I….”
I really want some now but, yeah.
That was my favorite, those two were my favorite
when I was a kid.
I think that what we talked about is actually
probably pretty typical of what Halloween
experiences like for kids.
Of course, as you become an adult, the experience
will change to some degree.
You stop trick-or-treating, you stay inside
and go to adult Halloween parties which is
fun as well.
Any thoughts?
Anything else?
Do you know what you’re going to be for Halloween
this year, by the way?
Michael: Oh, I was thinking–I just watched
“The Princess Bride” which is a very nostalgic
movie and I was thinking about being the masked
guy.
It’s a simple costume, it’s like all black.
I just like the movie.
What about you?
Alisha: Yeah, actually, I’m trying to think
about it.
I’m thinking, usually—well, actually, the
last couple years, I’ve kind of tried to go
a little too complex.
Last year I did a robot.
I tried to do like an Android robot and I
painted all these lines on me but it just
came off and it just looked bad after a while.
So, I’m thinking about going kind of simple
and classic monster.
We’ll see, though.
I really don’t know.
I’ve been thinking about it.
Anyway, that’s all for the Halloween experience
for this time around.
Please let us know if you have had any interesting
experiences with Halloween or a similar holiday
in your country.
Let us know in the comments for sure.
Thanks very much for watching this lesson
and we will see you again soon.
Bye.