Mid Autumn Festival
Thank you to all of my friends and family for all of your well wishes and support! It's so nice to hear from all of you. I feel like I'm not really on the other side of the world, and makes the world seem that much smaller.
The Mid Autumn Festival (if that's translated correctly) fell on the first full moon of October this year. This was Friday October 6. We finished work early so all of the vendor employees could go home and have a big family dinner and celebrate being with their families.
These are posters hanging in the elevators of the hotel. These moon cakes are given as gifts to friends or family. They are also eaten after the family meal on the full moon. They are made of lotus seeds, and often they contain duck egg yolks.
These duck egg yolks are supposed to mimic the image of the full moon. Ryan commented that they remind him of fruitcakes around Christmas-time - a traditional food eated only on that holiday. My Chinese coworkers said that the sweetness of the cake symbolises the sweetness of being able to be together as a family on this holiday.
So the Americans and Japanese on my team went to a German restaurant on Friday night to celebrate. The restaurant was offering some kind of fresh fruit plate as an appetizer, in honor of the celebration. We struggled to understand this with the language barrier, but it seems as if the fruit plate was a mandatory order, so we ordered it. They of course brought out fruits we had never seen before, as well as fresh nuts that were still soft and meaty.
We ate outside on a patio facing the Pearl River. It was dark so everything was lit up in neon. There are evening Pearl River cruises which will be fun to take if we're able to leave work early one night.
But it was almost like being at home for me, since there are so many German people in Cincinnati. Cincinnati cooking styles are reminiscent of the German food, so both Ryan and I found comfort in the meat, potatoes, bread and beer that was offered. I have to admit that I'm glad I'll be home for Thanksgiving with my family!
Miss you all!
The Mid Autumn Festival (if that's translated correctly) fell on the first full moon of October this year. This was Friday October 6. We finished work early so all of the vendor employees could go home and have a big family dinner and celebrate being with their families.
These are posters hanging in the elevators of the hotel. These moon cakes are given as gifts to friends or family. They are also eaten after the family meal on the full moon. They are made of lotus seeds, and often they contain duck egg yolks.
These duck egg yolks are supposed to mimic the image of the full moon. Ryan commented that they remind him of fruitcakes around Christmas-time - a traditional food eated only on that holiday. My Chinese coworkers said that the sweetness of the cake symbolises the sweetness of being able to be together as a family on this holiday.
So the Americans and Japanese on my team went to a German restaurant on Friday night to celebrate. The restaurant was offering some kind of fresh fruit plate as an appetizer, in honor of the celebration. We struggled to understand this with the language barrier, but it seems as if the fruit plate was a mandatory order, so we ordered it. They of course brought out fruits we had never seen before, as well as fresh nuts that were still soft and meaty. We ate outside on a patio facing the Pearl River. It was dark so everything was lit up in neon. There are evening Pearl River cruises which will be fun to take if we're able to leave work early one night.
But it was almost like being at home for me, since there are so many German people in Cincinnati. Cincinnati cooking styles are reminiscent of the German food, so both Ryan and I found comfort in the meat, potatoes, bread and beer that was offered. I have to admit that I'm glad I'll be home for Thanksgiving with my family!
Miss you all!
posted by Libby | 6:29 PM
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