Taipei again

I'll be honest--I don't *really* want to blog tonight. So, in brief, today I...

• went to brunch with Rachel, Brittany, Karina, and another American whom we met in the hostel;
• met up with Analicia, together with Karina and Tom, and chatted and had tea with Analicia's church friends;
•  went, together with Tom and Karina, to the Chaing Kai-Shek memorial, where we witnessed the changing of the guard;
• went, together with Tom, Karina, and Tom's friend Amanda, to a moon festival BBQ Tom's friends were hosting down by the river.

This last point is the only one I'm really going to expand on--it was so much fun! Hundreds of people camped out underneath an overpass barbecuing, hanging out by the river, looking at the (enormous, really bright, almost full) moon, and setting off illegal fireworks! Especially as I missed the 4th of July this year, I really loved the similar sense of joyous outdoorsy celebration and fun.

Sparks!

As a result of the fireworks, though, (we think that was why?) a fire truck showed up in its full glory, drawing a migrating crowd who followed the sole fireman charging throughout the BBQs, looking for violations. Turns out, we were one of these: the big BBQ fire which we had been using to cook a chicken, and which had been scattering live coals across the entire underpass thanks to a strong wind throughout the evening. Fortunately they let them off with a warning, but it was a bit embarrassing, since there were also several news crews wandering the area.

Then back to Kaohsiung! One fun bit was that, as we left the HSR station, Karina and I saw a family from Spanaway, WA. Don't see that every day around here!

I'm done for now, but here's some quick pictures to give you a sense of the day:

Watching that moon...

...by the river.

Chaing Kai-Shek's memorial

Changing of the guard!

(It was a long ceremony)