Interlude - Ice

Do you know what I miss? I know I said this entry would be a tour of my neighborhood, and I'll get to that, but first a little house cleaning. Do you know what I miss? A number of things, of course. My home, my friends, having extended conversations with people where everyone knows what the subject matter is. But, do you know what I really miss? Ice. I know that seems strange, and maybe trivial, but hear me out. The last cold beverage I had was on an airplane somewhere over Mongolia last Saturday. Sure, ice isn't really all that important, I guess. I really hadn't even thought about the fact that every beverage I've had was room temperature, or hot, depending on the beverage. Until today.

I was watching a TV show on my laptop, and a character bit into a chicken sandwich. I know this seems out in left field, but it'll all come together. So, this character bit into a chicken sandwich, from some fictional, American fast food restaurant. The thing is, fast food isn't even very good. I knew I would have cravings, for spaghetti, I assumed. I love spaghetti. But, honestly, my noodle quotient is full. I can have noodles for any meal. Breakfast noodles, lunch noodles, I could have a noodle latte if I asked the right person at just the right time. But, that chicken sandwich. Well, not even that chicken sandwich. I had a chicken sandwich three days ago, albeit one that would not cut the mustard in the USA. Still, that sandwich made me want a cheeseburger. Yep. I suddenly wanted a cheeseburger, and I became very, very sad.

Cheeseburgers aren't my favorite food, they aren't even in my top 10, but they are so very American. When I went away to college for the first time, I spent the entire semester eating only dining hall food. This was Flagler College, for those of you familiar with it and its dining hall cuisine. Somewhere around the third-quarter of that semester I got a card in the mail with a $10 bill in it from my Mom. The note read something to the effect of "Go have lunch. I love you." I walked down to the Jesterville Grille, I sat at the counter and I ordered a cheeseburger. Now, the Jesterville Grille is no longer there, and that fact might have something to do with the quality of their food, but I tell you, there has never been ANYTHING in the history of time that tasted better than that cheeseburger.

So, what does this have to do with ice? Well, I figured I'd send a message to Xiao Liu tonight and ask her where to get a cheeseburger. I'm sure she'll tell me "I do not like" in that way she does. She's funny that way, but I guess when you prefer lava, a cheeseburger is less than second-rate. So, tomorrow I will have a cheeseburger, but, no ice. The drinks never come with ice here.

So, what brought this epiphany about? I walked out of the dining hall tonight after dinner. I had eaten a chicken thigh and some vegetables in vinegar. I waited patiently for the meat to be put out when I realized that the last meat I'd had, excluding sheep's blood, of course, was at KFC 3 days ago. That's just not like me! Haha. Anyway, I stepped out of the dining hall unfulfilled, not even meat would cure my longing. I walked across to the little shop thinking maybe there was something vaguely American there, a snack cake or something. Nope. But then, as I looked around for a beverage, I noticed something: There was ice build-up on the sides of the freezer! The freezer was on! The drinks were cold!

Again, this might take a little explanation. There are drink coolers all over this city in all sorts of shops, but, however, I have not yet encountered one that was actually ON! And cooling drinks! I grabbed a bottle of water, swiped my student card and stepped outside. I unscrewed the cap and took a long, cold drink. Ah, America...

Hayden