Halloween around the world

— Halloween is one of those things that's as American as baseball and apple pie.

Or is it?

According to history.com, Halloween originated as a Celtic harvest festival in Ireland. When Europeans began immigrating to America, they brought their Halloween customs with them While many countries around the world celebrate Halloween with candy and costumes, just as many have their own Halloween-ish holidays.

Shengying Xu (pronounced Shu) is a 19-year-old sophomore from Qingdao, China. She is majoring in finance at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

"There are several ghost festivals China. Nothing nationwide, they are regional and at different times of year, based on the Chinese calendar. There's no candy. It's good because they get to see the ghosts of their dead relatives, but it's bad because the ghostsdestroy the Earth," Xu said.

She said she likes the way Americans have costumes for Halloween.

"It's fun because you get to dress up," Xu said.

Latin America cultures celebrate All Souls Day or El Dia Los Muertos, which is a tree-day festival to honor dead relatives. It starts on Halloween and ends on Friday, Nov. 2.

Karim Soumana, 24, is studying economic development at UCA. In his home country of Niger, children celebrate a festival like Halloween.

"Kids dress up and go from house to house. They get money and food, but not candy. In Niger we have a lot of Muslim holidays. Here you have Thanksgiving. There we have a three- to four-day feast at the end of Ramadan," Soumana said.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim year in which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset.

In southern Thailand, villagers have a different way of getting into the spirit of things, said history major Pattaka "Patty" Sangimnet, 24.

"People believe they get invaded by ghosts, and they poke or cut themselves with a pin or a knife and say they have no pain because the ghost is in them," Sangimnet said.

She said she'll be celebrating Halloween American-style at UCA.

"I'll be dressed as a witch," Sangimnet said.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 149, 157 on 10/28/2007

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