Moon Festival

The moon is full and round as it will be all year on the autumnal equinox. This marks an important Taiwanese holiday known as the Moon festival. School is cancelled while friends and family spend their time enjoying barbecues and moon cakes. Moon cakes are intricately designed pastries often filled with bean paste. I find them delectable.

After scrambling around Taipei trying to find my friend I was able to to enjoy a grand barbecue. Sitting around a fire cooking meat placed on sticks is cave-man like in nature but extremely satisfying. Once the charcoal grill was started the skewers of meat began to cook. This was unlike any previous barbecues I've been too. We were situated on top of my friend's rooftop balcony, with limited seats but plenty of food. There were no side dishes but an excess of meat to grill. Most of the food was placed on sticks and then set on the grill to cook after a few coats of barbecue seasoning. Then once completed they were set on a platter for anyone to grab. Known to some as the most disgusting food and to others as a delicacy, pig-blood cakes started off the event. I would say they landed some place in between great and horrible. Sausages, chicken legs, and ham wraps made it onto the grill soon after. Some of the more unique entries included sticky rice sausage, mushrooms, tofu, chicken butt, and chicken heart. All were good but nothing compared to the seasoned pork chops I had. With the moon still high in the sky the food continued to pour onto the grill. Later at three A.M. leftovers were consumed with rice over a card game. Soon after this point my endurance ended and sleep called. My bed consisted of a towel placed over a marble floor. Not the most comfortable bed but I slept regardless and I'm still able to move.

On the bus ride back home I was asked why I wanted to come to Taiwan. A common question and often followed with why I didn't go to mainland China. From what I've experienced the Taiwanese don't express particular ill will towards their mainland neighbors but view Taiwan as a separate nation. In this particular case my new friend wanted to know how Americans viewed Taiwan. He thought the U.S. would prevent  mainland China from taking in their Taiwan neighbor. Another common question is what I think of Taiwan. They are often surprised by my comment on the beauty of the surrounding mountains. In particular they want to know how I enjoy the food, and last night I enjoyed it thoroughly.


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