[speaker001:] Hey Susan, what are you coming as this year?
[speaker002:] Coming as?
[speaker001:] Yeah... for Halloween! We have a big office party tomorrow evening. There's a prize for best costume!
[speaker002:] Um... I have to confess, I haven't given it much thought. I'm from China and Halloween really isn't celebrated there.
[speaker001:] Really! You don't have some kind of Chinese ghost festival?
[speaker002:] Oh... Sure. We have an entire month! In traditional Chinese culture, Ghost Month is a period when the door between this world and beyond opens up and ghosts come back to earth for a visit.
[speaker001:] Cool! A whole month! What do you do during that month?
[speaker002:] Well, people sometimes set off firecrackers, some people burn paper money as an offering and many people go to a temple to burn incense.Mainly though, you need to feed the ghosts because they're hungry.
[speaker001:] Feed them?
[speaker002:] Yeah... we set up tables with food, fruit and drinks and offer that to the hungry ghosts.
[speaker001:] And then later everyone eats the food?
[speaker002:] Yes! How did you guess that?
[speaker001:] It makes sense, right? Who else is going to eat it?
[speaker002:] Good Point!
[speaker001:] But no dressing up like ghosts, right?
[speaker002:] No! So... is Halloween essentially the same thing as ghost month?