Delightfully tacky and absolutely delicious!

I now not only believe but use the phrase, “I go for the chicken wings,” whenever I head to Hooters. So far I have been there three times and that was only in the first two weeks. Nothing satisfies a craving for American food like a spicy buffalo chicken sandwich and curly fries with cheese. It is such a treat for my taste buds to have a positive familiar seasoning and being able to gauge and understand feeling full makes my tummy so happy! I never will forget the time I was eating a bowl of rice with some very sweet and not so sour pork. I stopped eating when I started to feel full but I had eaten too much rice and I could barely stand up straight after it had expanded in my stomach. I could feel my stomach stretching and it did not feel good- I had eaten less than half of the food I was served and it left me miserably full. Since then I have limited my rice intake and attempt to cut back on eating it as well as all sodas except the occasional Sprite.

            Another saving grace and my new best friends are Cold Stone Creamery and Subway sandwiches. Subway is much cheaper here, the average turkey combo meal cost $5 and on Tuesdays in only $3! So you know where I’m eating tomorrow! I never thought I would crave a poor boy sandwich so bad in my life as I did before I went to Subway for the first time. I know get my substantial meal fix and knowing that when I feel full, the food is not going to expand is an equally amazing and comforting experience. Cold Stone is my dairy provider. Diary is not popular in Beijing, this includes milk, cheese and butter. There are times when I get intense cravings for theater style popcorn and I have realized it is because I am craving the butter, they don’t even cook with it here. The popcorn served here tastes a lot like microwavable kettle corn. It is sweet and even then they don’t serve very much. I never thought about living without dairy but I am really missing my daily glass of chocolate milk. In the end, I’m not a hard person to please. As long as I have some lunchmeat, bread and milk I can survive! I have become quite the fan of peanut butter sandwiches though, and that’s not something I eat a lot of back home. But please don’t get me wrong, I will have more postings about Chinese food and it isn’t all bad- I am actual a fan of it for the most part, but after so many Chinese meals, I just want something that is familiar and reminds me of a home. God bless America.