Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Halloween and trick-or-treating is upon us once more and I’m thrilled to have been invited to a number of spooky events. This ginger witch has brushed off the cobwebs of our ever-growing Halloween boxes and the broomstick has gone in for its annual service.
Halloween is one of my favourite celebrations; perhaps due to my fond childhood memories of the traditions we gleefully followed and now continue to share with our own little ghouls.
Building family traditions, old and new, can be a core part of expat life wherever you may be living in the world. Children place great importance on being able to do the same traditions that they did back home.
Making the effort and taking the time to plan and prepare for such traditions can bring comfort and security to expat children, knowing that they aren’t missing out on anything because of their new location.
Different places and cultures can also bring opportunities to create new traditions with your family and friends.
These can be small things or bigger events; I now own 50 sets of chopsticks, Chinese bowls and a huge box full of red Chinese New Year decorations! Yes, we will celebrate the year of the Monkey 2016 and chant Gong Xi Fa Cai because it’s a new tradition of ours that we were introduced to in a previous expat posting.
Carrying on with our new traditions brings us joy and ignites our memories of times gone by which aren’t to be forgotten just because we don’t live there any longer.
Remember, your family traditions and embrace new ones along the way. But whatever you do, don’t mention to the husband how much you paid for a pumpkin here in Bahrain!
