If he were at home in England, Martin Neighbor would be in "Year 5" at a British private school this year. But instead, he's a fifth grader at a Northern California public school. In the following excerpts from Martin's diary (journal), he continues his account of his year in California, including getting ready for his first American Halloween.

Martin's Diary (September 23 – October 14, 2000)

Saturday, 23 September
Today we went to Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, to meet my dad's friend Tom, who is also an exchange teacher from England. We went there by car around lots of winding mountain roads. First of all, though, we had to negotiate our way around the city of San Francisco.

I have never been to such a hilly city before in my whole life! I have been to the French Alps with my parents on holiday before, but never have I seen a whole city which is so hilly. It was fantastic going up and down such steep streets, which people actually live on and businesses are trading on!

Tonight at Tom's house we ate Mexican food. Tom and Dad bought the food from a Mexican take-away. Here, take-away food is called food "to go." It was very good and quite spicy.

We eat out much more in the States, as people here do in general, because restaurants are much, much cheaper than they are in England, and it seems to be much more part of the American culture to eat out. My parents are always getting leaflets and vouchers in the mailbox here with special offers.

Sunday, 24 September
Everywhere now there are pumpkins on the roadside and elsewhere, such as in the shops. Halloween is celebrated much more here than in England. I have noticed that special shops have opened up selling Halloween merchandise, and the children at school have already started discussing what costumes their parents are either renting or making for them. No one in my class in England even bothered to celebrate Halloween. Here, people are starting to put skeletons on the front walls of their houses and have started putting the scary lights outside their houses.

Sunday, 30 September
Through my soccer team I have met some really great friends, and we were all invited around to their house for a meal. We had a really great time. They even let us all go in the hot tub.

I have never ever met anyone who had a hot tub in England. Lots of people have them here in California. They are great fun. On the few sunny days you ever get in England, some people put out their paddling pools for their children.

Monday, 2 October
I've been at school a month now, and I am still enjoying it. We seem to get a lot more tests in the States than in England. I get quite a lot of homework, too, which my sister didn't get when she was in Year 5. The only homework I ever used to get was spellings. Now I just get more of them!

We really have to work hard at school because I found out recently that in elementary schools children get a report card at the end of every trimester with an overall grade for each subject. So the pressure is on to work hard all the time. In England, we get a full, written report once every year, and we do not get a grade such as A, B, C, or D until we go onto secondary school.

Saturday, 7 October
Soccer is so much more competitive here than it is at home. We play games which are much further away than I have travelled in the past. Today we went up to Healdsburg, about 20 miles north. It is a beautiful city whose economy seems to be based around the vineyards. My parents loved it!

Even the players' parents seem to take their sons' soccer games more seriously, too. Some of the behaviour on the pitch was also a little different. The coach of the other side actually asked some of his players to deliberately maim me and another star player so that his team would win! I got kicked in the knee, and the opposing player almost broke my knee! He was really vicious.

Friday, 13 October
Today my family and I are getting ready to go to the Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay. We are going to stay overnight with Dad's friend Tom, and our dog is coming with us. After we had finished preparing our packaging, we set off on our journey. We had heard a lot from other people about the Pumpkin Festival and how "cool" it was.

The drive down to Half Moon Bay is always great. The hilly scenery and the views of the Pacific are stunning. I really like taking this route. We don't have any scenery in England to compare with this.

Saturday, October 14
Today we started with a leisurely breakfast down at one of the "coolest" cafes in town. On our way down to the center of town we could see all the houses decked out in Halloween decorations.

In Half Moon Bay, people were wearing orange everything. Orange pumpkin sweatshirts and sweatpants, and pumpkin blouses and shirts. We even saw a tiny baby in a backpack who was dressed in an orange, pumpkin-decorated baby gown with pumpkin shoes and a pumpkin hat!

There was a procession (parade) growing and getting ready in the little streets off the main street. It was just like the carnival in the town I come from. There were people, both adults and children, in witch, Frankenstein, vampire, and skeleton costumes. They all had their own floats, which were decorated in all kinds of styles appertaining to Halloween. We saw a float with a huge, 940-lb pumpkin, which had been grown by one of the local farmers. He must have had it hoisted up by some kind of pulley onto that float! It was truly amazing!

In the afternoon the procession with all the floats started, and it wound its way around to the main street. There were bands playing really jolly music, and everyone was dressed up, of course! People of all ages were taking part. They threw sweets to all the children onlookers who were trying to catch them and collect as many as they could in their bags!

It was a fantastic atmosphere, and I like it much better than the carnival in our town, which is nowhere near as good.

Martin's prior journal entries

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