Yet another insubstantial post
China is full of products that look basically familiar, yet would never be found in the NA market. For instance,
Ice Cream is a hot commodity here, and cheap. The Red Bean popsicle I just finished cost about 12Cdn cents. That’s the same flavour as Red Bean bubble tea, for those of you who enjoy that kind of thing. Last week I had a green pea ice cream, which was surprisingly good, while indeed tasting something like peas. At McDonald’s, the latest pie flavour is Green Bean, which, some random Chinese guys I met assure me, is also very good.
While tea is far more popular than coffee, coffee flavour is everywhere. In ice cream, in cookies, in cola. Now that I’ve seen Coffee Cola I’m a little surprised there’s no American equivalent. It’s a caffeine boost and a half.
Now, given all the amazing experiences I must be having in China, you’re probably wondering why when I finally do return to the blogosphere I waste my time talking about bean flavoured ice cream. Good question. I hate mass emails so I haven’t written any yet, but I am getting a bit tired of writing, so I adapt here a passage recently emailed to a friend.
As for China, I’m in a situation where everything is new and interesting and if my friends were here we could talk and talk without end. But because there’s so much and it’s all experience based, it’s hard for me to write about it. I really haven’t given anyone a firm idea of my impressions so far. All I can say for now is I don’t regret coming out here, though I do miss many things about home, and this apartment can get kind of lonely sometimes. Overall, it’s a fantastic experience. I love trying to communicate with these people – with only the smallest threads of language to connect us. I love watching the city from my 19th story window in the middle of the night, walking through the square, eating foreign foods. I keep thinking that I should be keenly aware of my solitude here, but I don’t feel it as poignently as I’d expect. I haven’t figured that out yet. I’m not sure if it would be healthy for too long, but 6 months isn’t bad. Perhaps once I’ve become accustomed to life in China I won’t have the distractions I have now.
That said, if there are particular things you’re interested to hear about, ask specific questions – probably by email.
As for this blog, I truly hope to get back to its central purpose soon. Right now I’m spending a lot of time adapting to my new job, but I’ve also been plowing through Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, and have much to say about that, not to mention Alistair McIntyre’s After Virtue. When tired of ethics, I sift through the fool’s goldmine of mid-century Beat literature. I finished Jack Kerouac’s On the Road a couple of weeks ago, and have enjoyed Allen Ginsberg’s poetry in particular since. If anyone has anything to say about the Beats and their legacy, that is a subject I would love to explore with you.