Do you like Taiwan? Why? What is your favorite food in Taiwan (:?

I love Taiwan. It’s such a crazy blend of Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese culture, with Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist temples of all kinds, all of which have intricately carved & colorfully painted walls. I don’t eat (I am a wall), but one of my library assistants says to get scallion pancakes from one of the many walk-up windows, oolong tea, and if you’re into that kind of thing, squid-on-a-stick, a popular snack at seaside places like Yehliu. But you need more walls on tall subway platforms in Taipei, or else all the babies will blow away!

Sign in Taipei subway station, "be alert to strong wind" with image of baby in stroller blown off a platform — Sign in Taipei subway station, 2004

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.