Lanyang Campus will hold its won barbecue party this week (September 26) to celebrate the Moon Festival. It will take place at the meadow in front of the Clement Chang International Conference Hall, inviting staff, faculty members and all new and old students.

Hua Chen-how, the chair of the Student Dormitory Autonomous Committee, the organizer, indicated that he and his fellow students would like to use this occasion to welcome this year’s freshmen and provide a relaxing atmosphere for them to get to know the campus life and senior students. Hopefully, they can be integrated into the big family, Lanyang Campus, as soon as possible. This year, Hua said, they are expecting more than four hundred people to show up, a big jump from the 100 students three years ago when Lanyang just started recruiting students. This number will grow as the campus continues to expand; therefore, it is particularly meaningful to ensure the success and persistence of such an event so it will become an integral part of Lanyang legacy in a not very distant future.

On Tamsui Campus, a barbecue was also held albeit last week (September 22) by the Malaysian Overseas Chinese Student Association to welcome new students. The barbecue was meant to make 34 freshmen from Malaysia feel at home so as to reduce their homesickness.

The deputy chair of the association, Fu Shi-ying, a sophomore of the Department of Banking and Finance, hoped to use the barbecue to introduce Taiwanese culture. In Malaysia, among the ethnic Chinese population, the Moon Festival is celebrated with moon cakes only, so a barbecue is a novelty for Malaysians who just arrived Taiwan for the first time. Besides this, students could chill out together over delicious foods and warm fire. Malaysian students from other universities were also invited to share this delightful culture cum social event.

Tsai Tso-yi, a freshman of the Department of Information and Communication, enjoyed the barbecue, despite some differences between traditional Malaysian grill and that in Taiwan. He pointed out that in his home country, meatballs and fishballs (Tempura) are the main staples for grill, whereas in Taiwan people like to grill toast bread, thinly sliced port chops and various kinds of seafood. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )