My new craving is dairy. Probably because I haven't *had* any (other than the occasional ice cream) for about two weeks. I want a tall ice cold glass of Grade A Vitamin D Whole Milk. Or a big bowl of plain yoghurt with fresh berries and granola. Or a selection of smelly cheeses. If you read in my blog entries way back to sometime around October of 2005 when I was in Vietnam, you'll see the effects of the last time I had such a craving. I went about a month without cheese (travesty!) and finally landed myself in a seat at a decent Western-style restaurant near the water front in Hoi An. They had an appetizer listed that was a selection of five different imported cheeses. Each was only a small wedge, but it really should have served at least three or four people as an appetizer. I consumed the entire thing by myself as a main course and was "backed up" for days.
So the boys, in their kindness, brought me about a dozen tetra pack cartons of "milk" last night. I got all excited and took two to the kitchen this morning to have them put in the fridge to chill. Thrilled with anticipation, I unwrapped the cellophane from the straw, punctured the little foil dot, and took a long draw. There's nothing worse than your taste buds expecting one thing and being met by something *completely* different. Of course I can't *read* the Chinese to see what they brought me, but this is not milk. It's something "like milk" thats incredibly sweet and flavored in some key lime sort of way. And not in a natural, "mmm, tastes like key lime pie" sort of yumminess. In a chemical, saccharine, this-isn't-quite-right-in-any-dimension sort of way. So bummer again. Maybe I can go with them to Fukang for the next fueling and hit up the grocery store for something more like dairy. I remember from backpacking through Asia before that you can at least find the "Laughing Cow" cheese wedges in most places. I'm Dying Here!! But no fear - I have my daily multivitamins, and I'm eating well, so I'm not getting nutritionally deprived. Just have an itch that needs to be scratched.
Thanks for all of the birthday wishes. It was a nice, peaceful day. I was a little bummed for most of the day thinking that I was going to be all alone. I ate all three meals by myself for the first time since I've been here. Usually the gang is here for at least lunch or dinner. So I'd gotten into my jammies, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and settled in to read myself to sleep when there was a knock at the door. Shaoyuan had gotten a beautifully decorated cake and arranged our group of guys plus 4 other folks working here to join in the celebration. He asked me to bring my bottle of scotch and whiskey left over from the other night, so I did, and I had to go around the table one by one and toast each person. I survived that experience better than I'd expected. We found ourselves doing whiskey shots a few nights ago (which is why the bottles were "left over"), and that didn't end so well. Word to the wise - don't drink with Chinese. It's a competitive sport here. For a country with such a high incidence of alcohol sensitivity, those who can drink do so liberally. Every conversation over booze starts with "how much can you drink?" and ends way downhill from there. But last night was nice and tame for me. I managed to take just sips while the rest indulged. Unfortunately my translator, Shaoyuan, got a little too smashed to continue translating for me, so the night ended up like watching a foreign language comedy with no subtitles. At least it was a comedy and not a bad war drama :) To the best I can tell, the men were all trying to challenge the young masters student, Shutao, to woo the other lady at the table - a spunky young student who was coyly laughing at the whole thing, but you could tell she was getting a little annoyed by their persistence. There was something about the guys trying to get Shutao to give her one of the sugar flowers from the cake top. It went on and on and round and round until she finally scooped up both flowers herself and stabbed the plastic knife through the center of the remaining cake with a very triumphant "There! Now shut up already!"
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