Moon Festival

Last night my friend Deepa and I went to the Moon Festival here at DePauw at the McKim Observatory (pictured above). This is the invitation for it that came to all of us over email:

We would like to invite you to the Annual Moon Festival next Friday (the 16th) at the McKim Observatory, starting at 8:30 pm. We will celebrate the mid-autumn moon in collaboration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the students in the ASIA Club, DePauw China Connection, and Physics Club. This is a great opportunity to see the moon through the historical telescope DePauw owns. The mid-autumn moon festival is a traditional East Asian holiday that occurs when the moon is considered most beautiful. Please bring your family and friends. Refreshments will feature traditional moon cakes, other Asian delights, and tea. There will be a chance for those who wish to share their favorite poems or songs in any language.

As you can imagine, this invitation filled me with great joy. It was the perfect example of the interdisciplinary richness that marks so much of my experience here: a festival hosted BOTH by the Physics Club and the ASIA Club, filled with astronomy, Asian culture, music, poetry, and food.

There was one undeniable disappointment that I must acknowledge: it was completely overcast last night, so we had no glimpse of the moon at the Moon Festival. But the observatory was thronged with students, faculty, friends; the moon cakes were delicious, and the menu of music performed on the stage behind the observatory was a multi-cultural delight. Deepa recognized the music for one dance performance: a song from an Indian film she had seen: "I can't believe I'm hearing this song in Greencastle!"

Happy Moon Festival, everybody!