Halloween, or Hallowe’en, is a worldwide annual holiday celebrated on Oct. 31. It is linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain which has some elements of a festival of the dead. People believed that the borders between this world and the otherworld, which is the realm of the dead, became thin on Samhain. So, people usually dress up as ghosts or monsters, in an attempt to copy the evil spirits. Also during Samhain, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and placed in windows to ward off the evil spirits. This was the ancestor of the famous Jack-o’-lantern.
The Halloween party at POSTECH wasn’t different from any usual Halloween day. Atlas Hall was decorated with Jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkin-like papers with blinking lights and people enjoyed free beer and foods. A 5000 KRW entrance fee was charged, but it was waived for people wearing a Halloween costume, and part-goers at the party got dressed up like a soldier, a vampire, an angel, or Pooh. One thing special was that participants weren’t restricted to DICE students. Not only students living in other dormitories, but also staff-members working at POSTECH enjoyed the party. Even though they came from various countries and had a language barrier, all participants seemed to have lost track of time talking with each other.
