Halloween2013/The Color Run

Well, this Halloween again exceeded my expectations!

Halloween in Ms Hoopah’s Grade 2 class:

We celebrated Halloween on Thursday (the 31^st), which was wonderful but made for a difficult Friday! Haha A large part of me strongly believes that Halloween at school is more enjoyed by the teachers than the students (too fun to dress up...yes, I was Michael Jackson), although the kids did show up in some pretty adorable costumes! I’m pretty sure Harry Potter attended my class (his costume was that good). The highlight of the day was by far my kids’ performance in the Assembly. 

This past summer my youngest sister Za taught me how to play ‘The Cups Song’ and after playing it during an evening of Acoustic Corner I had been asked to teach some friends. I still haven’t gotten around to teaching the song to friends but did accept the challenge of teaching it to my Grade 2 students! We kept it a secret, as best we could, and practiced for weeks. By the time the assembly came they were relatively ready and very excited! The performance couldn’t have been cuter – some rocked it while others failed miserably (which upped the cute factor haha).

Halloween celebrated by staff:

The staff celebrated Halloween on Friday, which was the best decision for everyone! Haha It was quite a blowout that no one seems to truly remember and it seems that many were in need of some serious recovery time. After school we had some food and Kathryn and I got ready for the party; she went as a Crazy Cat Lady while I went as a Flapper girl from The Great Gatsby. We danced, had a drink, laughed a ridiculous amount and joined the event on the 3^rd floor around 7:30. 

The costumes were wonderful and the drinking games set-up in the kitchen on the huge island were quite something! The music list was fabulous (thanks to our 3 hour dance/list creating party the girls and I had on Thursday night) and most of my time was spent dancing…surprise, surprise. I had a great time at the party but didn’t stay out too late on account of my 6:55am bus departure time to Guangzhou with The Color Run crew!

Guangzhou: 

As mentioned previously, our bus left at 6:55am from the bus station not far from home (this may have been hellish at the time but looking back, planning this week-end was one of The Best Decisions that I’ve made in a while). Needless to say, a couple of hours sleep didn’t suffice which resulted in my sleeping the entire way to Guangzhou. It took us a couple of hours to arrive and after a few metro stops we found ourselves at The Olympic Stadium where the run was taking place. We signed in, got our packages, dropped our bags, changed in the square and were ready to join the last wave of runners at 11. 

The Color Run is promoted as THE HAPPIEST 5K ON THE PLANET and I 100% agree; taking part in this 5k run was a phenomenal experience and is one I will not soon forget. We found ourselves on a number of occasions throughout the run ‘smiling very loudly’ (Chinese doctor’s expression) and saying ‘I’m So Happy’! hahaha It was at every kilometer that the music was blaring and the paint was flying – on kilometer 3 Kathryn and I found ourselves rolling on the ground in clouds of red paint (why not, really!?). We may have begun the run in fresh white attire but we certainly didn’t finish that way! 

We were all covered in a number of different colors. The paint fight that the 12 of us had at the finish line also ensured that every inch of us, from hair to toes, was covered!

After enjoying a bit of the after party we made our way to The Victory Hotel on Shaiman Island, dropped our things and headed to Lucy’s for some food (our first meal of the day, we were famished). With full bellies we all headed back to our rooms for much needed showers and a nap. I showered first and then thought I would lay on our bed (the comfiest thing I have rested on in a very long time…a cloud in heaven really) and enjoy my coffee and a piece of chocolate. Kathryn may have come out of the bathroom Maybe 10 minutes later only to find me asleep on the bed in my robe, hair still in a towel, chocolate on my stomach and my coffee still in my hands – in my defense, I simply lost to exhaustion. 

We woke up around 8:30 and headed out to celebrate Gina’s birthday at what turned out to be a lovely place on the water that served not the most delicious food (poor Jasen had to leave on account of the mussels). After our meal we all headed back to our rooms for a much needed sleep (with no alarms set, what a treat).

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Dim Sum to celebrate Caroline’s 30^th birthday (a week-end of 30). What an experience!! To get a table Caroline actually became a real-life squatter and simply sat at a table of women who were done but didn’t look like they were going anywhere. As seats opened up we simply took over. Slowly but surely, everyone left and we had the table to ourselves (Only in China!). We had copious amounts of delicious food and from there Mariya, Ross, Kathryn and I grabbed the fast train to Luoho to grab a few things before heading home.

 

This past weekend is certainly one for the books, it was Marvelous and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to do it with such a lovely group of friends. I will certainly be signing up to take part in another Color Run if ever there is one nearby and I encourage any and all to do the same J