It's Mooncake Time!

This week is our Mooncake Festival, and China's National Holiday. We have five days off, and I'm taking full advantage of it, mostly by lying around watching tv shows, sleeping and eating mooncakes.
Mooncakes are interesting. I say this because most people I talk to either likes them, or hates them. Sometimes the flavors are quite interesting, and the English translations are something like this: smashed lily bulp (I'm assuming they mean pulp), or a "paste" of some kind. I mean, they don't put a lot of effort in making them sound good and on top of it, they're kinda dense, can be dry and are killer unhealthy. I think they said that one mooncake can be up to 1200-1400 calories.
Eek.
Good thing I've only had four.
Anyway I was informed that most people don't eat them, they just give them as gifts (like our fruit cakes I suppose) because these suckers will last for a month under refrigeration. I've had peanut butter, some kinda fig newton-y fruit, coffee and red bean. I'm probably gaining ten pounds as I type this- it just hasn't caught up yet.
Its funny because my favorite restaurant here so far is the Indian one our friend Kamal took us too. The butter chicken is fantastic, and I can eat my weight in garlic butter naan bread. I feel a little guilty for not enjoying Chinese food as much, seeings how I'm living here, and the authentic cuisine available here is rare to find in the U.S. However, I must say I've done my best to sample as much as possible just for reference sake, so you can ask me what I've had and I'll try to dazzle you with the weirder of my experiences.

Have I mentioned that its already October now? I'm so sad I'm not home for fall...being on campus during this time is the best time in my opinion. There's football, jeans and sweatshirt weather, crispy leaves on the ground and fresh nipping air that holds a whisper of winter. Fall means a flurry of activity before the true cold sets in, and everyone hunkers down in their abodes.
The air is getting chillier here, and I am sorely unprepared for colder weather. I need to fill out my wardrobe and prepare more for it. Thankfully all the vendors have already rolled out their coats, hats and boots so I'll have no problem making that happen.

Well, I'm gonna hit the hay, so have a great week!