Food for thought

I've been gone for a month now. Some people didn't think I would make it this long (I'm looking at you, El Dub). The most worrisome part of this whole trip has been the food issue. I'm what some call a 'picky' eater. I've been this way since I was able to communicate my opinions to my parents and I can't even remember the last time I had milk in my cereal (makes it soggy.. and sogginess is my mortal enemy). How have I survived without my daily bagels with cream cheese and cereal? In a 6 month period, I'd prolly have chinese food maybe 3 times and now I'm expected to eat it 3 times a day. Um.. no. I thought I would be able to get by eating rice and in Beijing, I learned that I don't really have much of a tolerance for tasteless rice. I also learned that I get cranky when I'm not fed what I want (Hbf learned too) and that basically I'm a slave to my cravings. This was not good news. In Beijing I subsisted on cookies, mostly. Delicious butter cookies, but cookies nonetheless. There would be an occasional meal that I could pick at some noodles, but nothing was really to my liking. The situation was worse than I thought.

Once we got out of Beijing and into the smaller, touristy areas, something wonderful happened. Cafes offered western food. And not just western food, western BREAKFAST food. Now, breakfast happens to be my favorite meal of the day and I often have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was delighted by what I found in every little town we went to, of course, but let me make myself clear. The food isn't up to par with a delicious breakfast restaurant in the states, but it is always edible to me. There were things about the food that I had to get used to..

1. The only way they know how to cook eggs is to fry them. If you say scrambled, they nod their heads like they understand but here comes the egg, fried. I've acquired a taste for fried eggs now.. And if you put them on toast, they are very tastey.

2. No syrup. Sad, sad, sad.. I miss syrup terribly. They give you honey or sugar, but it is really not the same at all. I've learned to cope, of course, and maybe when I get back I won't even like syrup. Right now though, I am mourning the loss of my precious syrup.

3. If they say pancake, beware. A pancake can be anything.. And it is rarely what you think it is.

Back in the states, I would maybe have eggs once every 2 weeks. Now I eat eggs daily, sometimes more than once. I've also taken a liking to oatmeal, which I would never touch back home. Hbf would always try to get me to eat oatmeal when we went camping, but I would refuse. The stuff was repulsive and I always had my bagels and cream cheese that I loved. In China, I can't get enough oatmeal! They call it porridge, and it usually comes with fruit. I'll prolly never touch it once I get back, but right now it tastes soooo good (see how my standards have lowered?). I also drink hot chocolate like my life depnds on it. I can't get enough of the stuff.

Anyways, I hope this answered some of your questions about how I am staying alive over here in China. I must go to search out some porridge. P.S. The Stone Forest was awesome. :)