You Scream, I Scream…

Every Westerner in China, except weirdos and traitors, eventually gets tired of eating Chinese food every day and begins to long for change, and more than that, for old favorites from home. If you live in Beijing, Shanghai, or another large, modern city, there’s a good chance you can satisfy these desires. But if you’re like me, living in little Lin’an, you have few options.

So when I went to Hangzhou last week I intended to make up for that, and hoped to, at worst, find a Pizza Hut. We did that, my girlfriend and I, and also ended up having a nice surprise. A little treat. Earlier in the day we went to a large public square, I’ve forgetton the name already, which was lined with many booths of sellers hawking various odds and ends — mostly junk, but interesting none the less. I was rather daunted by the surging mass of Chinese flowing, bumping, nudging against and around me to the point I quickly lost my appetite for shopping. But as we made our way through this morass of humanity I spotted something unexpected: a sign with a large ‘D’ immediately followed by a large ‘Q’. Bliss! “Follow me woman!” I ordered my girlfriend, and pulled her along.

Was it really Dairy Queen, or some evil Chinese imitation? An mutant of a DQ? Only time, and a taste, would tell.

Brian enters, hopes high but tempered. Looks at menu. Promising... A Blizzard as usual? Why not! He orders and sits down with his Blizzard, and puts a spoonful into his mouth....

Success! Victory! He could be back in Wisconsin if he closed his eyes and the people around him stopped speaking Chinese. But, he doesn't really want to be back in Wisconsin, so he happily eats his Blizzard and re-enters the fray outside.

Two excellent co-workers also brought me real cheese back from Hangzhou when they visited there. That, coupled with decent bread, makes… a not bad sandwich. I can live with that.

Last, and least, we — the foreign teachers — have discovered a restuarant across the road from our building that makes an extremely mediocre, yet satisfying, pizza. It’s proximity and the lack of any other pizza in town, made it feel like a godsend when we first found it. And, honestly, I am already looking forward to my next extremely mediocre pizza.