what's a girl to do??

Ha! As I typed the title, I realized some of you may think this post might be about the looming decision of what is next for me in life. It's not.

What I want to write about is a wonderful little thing called "xue gao."

Because I live in a city that is home to two large dairies, I have incredible access to high-quality dairy products. This is great when I want low-fat, high calcium milk which is difficult to find in some parts of this country. The yogurt is great too. The problem is with xue gao. You need to know at this point that I love ice cream...any flavor, any form, any time. That's why it's a problem that ice cream cones, ice cream-on-a-stick, and some kinds of ice cream in small, single serving cups are readily available for the low price of 12-20 cents. By "available" I mean you can't walk more than about 100 yards without passing yet another freezer full of it. You can purchase it at every grocery store, corner store, back alley internet cafe, 4 star hotel, flower shop, or bar in town. There are even little stands near all the shopping centers and at the parks that sell drinks and said ice cream.

It's not such a big deal for me the in winter, but now that the weather's warmer (87 F yesterday, probably due to global warming, but that's a topic for a different post) every time I leave my house is an opportunity to practice self control. I should tell you there are some flavors that I can easily say no to. For instance, you can find corn flavored ice cream, green pea, red bean, and some others that could never be marketed in the states. But, there are also great ones like a fudge-sickle, or chocolate/vanilla swirl on a stick, or coffee ice cream inside a waffle type thing, etc. They really are delicious. And they only cost 12 CENTS! It's one of the best things about living here.

But, we all know there are consequences to having constant access to 12 cent ice cream. Some days I purposely restrict myself from purchasing the ice cream in order to avoid the potential consequence. I tried that today. But, when I was in the Sales Department translating some advertisements for our restaurants, one of the guys went out and bought one for each of us in the office. It was really nice and if I didn't eat it, it would just melt. It's not like there's a freezer in the office. Yesterday was the same. I was on the way to the aiport to pick up some guests with the driver and the other airport pick-up staff when all of a sudden the driver pulls over, jumps out with the van running, runs into a store and comes back with 3 ice creams. Again, not eating really isn't an option.

12 cent ice cream. I love it. I wish I hated it, but the fact is...I think it's pretty great. So until I become lactose intolerant or can't fit into my clothes, I will probably continue enjoy this wonderful aspect of life here.