Halloween

Since Halloween is the day after tomorrow, this post is about Halloween in Taiwan. Enjoy!
Last night, my mother's office hosted a Halloween party for the city's children. This was outside, with a stage set up in the road. [The area was cordoned off and was off the main road, so traffic was not a huge issue.] People sat on plastic stools, and most of the children wore costumes. The usual were popular: Superman, Spiderman, Batman, vampires, pumpkins, etc. The adults involved also wore costumes. These adults would encourage the children to yell phrases or sentences in English, then in Chinese [for example: "Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!"]. To reward them, the adults then threw candies into the crowd. These candies are generally hard and fruit-flavored; I find the white gourd flavor tasty, but dislike the starfruit. After this, children from an orphanage sang and danced, then all the children did a "costume ball" where they were individually introduced and paraded across the stage to have their costumes admired. Following this, the children were sent into a field where colored foam balls were hidden (like an Easter egg hunt) and the 10 children who found the most were given special prizes.
In conclusion:

• The Taiwanese celebration of Halloween does not involve actual trick-or-treating, but does involve candy.
• Teens and children over the age of 10 don't really participate, except to help out with the set-up.
• Costumes are generally modest.

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Taiwanese Barbecue!

I have been to several barbecues since I got here, most of which were for the Moon Festival. However, this week I went to another, which was hosted by my school. Now that I've had this small variety introduced into my experience, I've decided to tell you all a bit about how Taiwanese barbecues are different from those back home.
First off, I have yet to see a grill here. A normal barbecue consists of a group of people gathered around a camping grill, which has charcoal inside and a wire grill on top. (The grill may be similar to either thick chicken wire or a cooling rack.) Because it uses charcoal instead of open flames, the food takes a while to cook. While it is doing so, the people generally designate one to three persons as grill-masters (my term, not theirs) to flip all the food periodically, while everyone chats, drinks (soda, tea, and bubbly cider are popular among teens), and/or stares at the food. When the food is done, the grill-masters use their flipping utensil (generally tongs) to put the food into a bowl/plate. This dish is then passed around and people take the food with either chopsticks or small wooden (disposable) skewers.
So now... to discuss the actual food. A bean product, similar to tofu but more firm, is almost always present. Other staples include chicken (varying parts of the bird are often present), fish patties, and pork (especially sweet sausages). [I have also had grilled octopus, which is tasty, if a bit rubbery.] Mushrooms are also common.
If there are any more details you want, PLEASE comment. And of course, please comment if there's you'd like to tell me how you feel about this. I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this. If you want me to update sooner next time, let me know... by commenting! Haha :)
Thanks for reading!