As we approach the third supermoon this year, I am reminded of how I witnessed the two previous ones in July and August.
On July 12th, I was flying from Chicago to Hong Kong to connect to yet another delayed flight to Taipei. I didn’t manage to see the moon in its full glory until about 2 AM in Taichung, Taiwan. The journey from Boston to Taipei was unplanned and unexpected. If everything had gone according to plan, I would have been viewing the supermoon in Montreal.
For me, a full moon represents a reunion. Whether it’s reuniting with family or friends or coming to a closure, the circle is a preferred shape to cornered shapes such as rectangles and squares. A circle is smooth and continuous, with no dangerous edges, stops or turns. In my culture, time is not linear but circular. Similarly, we eat on round tables not angular ones.
The great Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai 李白 (also written Li Po) wrote about seeing the moon light before his bed, causing him to wonder if the snow had come. When he looked up and saw the bright moon, he couldn’t help looking down and longing for home. Like other Chinese kids, I learned this famous poem as a child and never forgot it.
For me, Li Bai’s poem accompanies every full moon.
Sunset market in Taichung runs from mid-afternoon to early evening
My dad passed away a few days before the first super moon. This was also the first time that I made a second trip to Taiwan in the same year.
Only a year ago, he was walking with me to the nearby park and the sunset market. We’d get hand-made and freshly steamed Shanghainese soup dumplings (xiao long tang bao 小籠湯包 which means little caged soup dumpling) and other delicatessens for dinner. Every day, we’d go to a different restaurant for lunch. This year, he couldn’t walk as far.
Shanghainese soup dumpling at the sunset market in Taichung 2013
On my last visit in March 2014, I looked for the steamed dumplings every time I visited the sunset market. None in sight. What happened? I finally gave up and brought other dishes I liked – cold, marinated soya noodles (liang ban gan si), salt water duck, Sichuan cold dishes, and a bamboo parcel (zong zi).
Other delicatessens from the sunset market in Taichung for dinner
Getting different little dishes to accompany cold beer or sake was a ritual I started with my dad my last year in high school on Okinawa. Or was it the summers during college when I returned home? I’d cycle off-base to the fish shop near the Sunabe seawall and ask for the fresh catch of the day. I’d bring back fresh sashimi. Xiao cai 小菜 (or hsiao tsai, which means little dishes) and alcohol accompany good conversation.
I often wondered why my dad chose to retire in Taiwan rather than join his colleagues in the USA. His parents, five siblings and their families were all living in Taiwan. Why then did he settle in Taichung, far away from his siblings in Taipei?
By the time the second super moon arrived, I had found the answer to my question. On Sunday August 10th, I joined other higher education instructors (i.e. college lecturers and professors) for a week-long training seminar on the Big Island (also known as Hawai’i Island). To be continued ….