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イーオン日立校ブログです！

今日のJesse先生のブログはハロウィンについてです♪

Happy October! October means that Halloween is coming soon. Please come to our Halloween party, and start planning your costume now!

Do you know what the IRS is? Recently, in a Breakthrough class, one of the AEON characters named Jill says that she wants to work for the IRS. It's the Internal Revenue Service. In America, that is the government group that is in charge of taxes. The IRS collects taxes from all the people, and they are the ones that get angry at you if you make a mistake on your taxes. Almost everybody in American hates or is afraid of the IRS, because nobody likes paying taxes, and it's very complicated and difficult to do correctly. That's why it's funny (and strange) when Jill says working for the IRS is her dream.

But... What does the IRS have to do with Halloween? Good question! Halloween is a really big holiday in America. Everyone celebrates Halloween, but it's extra special for children. It's very important to find a good costume. Of all the Halloween costumes I had when I was a child, there is one that I remember the most clearly, because it got the best results from other people, and I want to tell you about it.

I was in elementary school. Most of the other children were zombies, vampires, or ghosts. Those were popular scary costumes. For my costume, I wore my best business suit. I even wore a tie! I don't wear glasses, but I had some fake glasses made of plastic, and I wore those. All of the other children carried bags or buckets, to put candy in during trick or treat, but I carried a business briefcase that belonged to my father.

Are you still confused? The last part of my costume was my name tag, on my suit. I wore a tag that said "IRS" in big letters. As I said earlier, most Americans are afraid of the IRS, because if the IRS comes to your door it means you made a mistake on your taxes and the government is coming for more money. When I went trick or treating with my friends, we went to a lot of houses in my town. The adult in those houses always opened the door with a bowl of candy, and they always reacted to the costumes. When they saw the ghosts and zombies, they always said "ooooo scary!", but when they saw my costume, they screamed "AAAAAH!!!!!! It's the IRS! OH NO!!!".

Every time I saw that reaction, I was happy. I've had a lot of great Halloweens in my life, but that was the best, and I will never forget the experience. So, this year, I encourage you all to think extra hard about what costume you can wear. There are lots of choices. These days, it doesn't have to be scary. Super heroes and TV/Movie characters are popular costumes, or just anything cute. But, the best costumes are the ones that are creative and unique. I'm not very good at making a costume like that (it was my parents that made the IRS costume) but maybe some of you are? I look forward to seeing your costumes at the party this year!

I'll finish this blog with some special Halloween English. "Trick or treat" is the phrase children say when they come to your house, and it means they want candy. Candy is the "treat" option. But, if you don't have any candy, then you get the "trick" option, which means they will do something bad to your house. So you better have some candy! Here's a popular trick or treat song all American children know:

Trick or treat!

Smell my feet!

Give me something good to eat!

If you don't,

I don't care...

I'll pull down your underwear!