It's still October

８月まで住んでいたMaida Valeはいろんな国からの移民が多く住む都会で、この時期になるとハロウィンで盛り上がる豪邸エリアが近くにあった。そこで楽しい思いをした娘が「またTrick or Treatをしたい」というので、仲良くなったママ友に「このあたりでハロウィンはやらないの？」と聞いたら、

「うちは行ったことないわ。あれはアメリカのだから・・・このあたりはクリスマスのほうが盛り上がるのよ。」とのこと。

確かにローカル英人が多い街なのである。ハイストリートのカフェや雑貨屋の飾り付けはハロウィン仕様になるし、スーパーでもカーヴィング用のカボチャを売ってはいるけど、学校の保護者のWhatsappのやりとりをみてても、みんなもう、クリスマスに心を奪われている感じ。「保護者のクリスマス会にはみんなでお金を出し合ってDJを呼んで、余ったら学校に寄付しよう」とか、「商店街の点灯式と重ならないように、クラスのパーティーはこの日で・・・」とか。

Teddingtonは小さな街だけど教会が多い。小学校は英国国教会系、それ以外にも、ローマン・カソリックとか、バプティストとか、メソジストとか、色々な流派の教会がある。そして、なんだか住民の地元愛が強い。

子どもたちのクリスマスミュージカルの準備も、随分熱がはいっている。6年生の演目は「美女と野獣」で、息子によると、Silly Girls（悪役のガストンのお尻を追いかけ回す村娘たち）の役になってしまってトイレで泣いていたクラスメイトもいたらしい。そんなリアルなドラマを横目に照明係に立候補した彼は、ごきげんよく Be our Guest を家で口ずさんでいる。

そういえば、最近うちの子、急に歌が上手くなった気がするんだけど、それは毎朝の集団礼拝で歌を歌っているからかもしれない。

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Maida Vale, where we lived until August, was quite urban, and most of the residents are originally from the other countries. There was a posh area where affluent Americans live, and all the mansions there would go all out for Halloween this time of year.

My daughter had such a fun in trick-or-treat, so she's been asking to do it again this year.

So, I asked my new friend here if they do Halloween in this area. She said, "Actually my family have never done that. It's an American... Around here, Christmas is the big thing."

I see. Teddington is a British area. The high street cafes and shops are decorated for Halloween, and supermarkets sell pumpkins for carving, but as long as I see on parents' chat groups, everyone seems to be more focused on Christmas already. There's a talk of hiring a DJ for the Christmas party, Pooling money for the school, and coordinating the class party so it doesn't clash with the town's light-up ceremony.

Teddington is a small town but you can find a lot of churches. Our primary school is Church of England school. There are also Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist churches. In addition, the lovely residents here seem to have a strong sense of community.

Children seems to be really getting into the preparations for the Christmas musical. Year-6 will do the "Beauty and the Beast". My son told me that one of his classmates was so upset about being cast as a Silly Girl (one of the villagers) that she was crying in the bathroom. It must have been disappointing for her. Every girl deserve to be the Belle on her life.

Meanwhile, my son, ran to become a lighting engineer, is happily humming "Be Our Guest" around at home.

I’ve noticed that his song is getting better lately. I suspect it might be because of the school's collective worship daily.