quelquefois

I was thankful that I didn’t buy a large can of X brand powdered milk at the store the other day. Days after, the Sanlu milk powder scandal was scoured all over international media. And, as recently as yesterday, more news broke of even more dairy companies (as many as 22, according to Bloomberg) having melamine in their products. Among these companies is Yili, an official Olympic sponsor,and also the brand of milk and yogurt that I drink. It’s not too reassuring when the company describes their fermentation method as something that is “through the advanced and unique arts and crafts, so it is of high quality. ” (source)

As a side note, I do think it’s pretty hilarious how Yili describes these yogurts:

Targeted Consumers: The products are mainly designed for urban white-collar ladies aged 23 to 35, who care more about their appearances, has certain consuming capacity, seek for a better life quality and pay more attention to the exquisite details and superior mental experience. They are also fashionable and pay attention to health and individual personalities.
Taste: Elegant Plain, Moist Aloe-Flavored,  Skin-Regenerating Blueberry-Flavored

And for their lowfat milk:

It is for married women who are 26-45,who pay attention to the body and the health. They buy for their children and themselves.

I’m kind of loving the whole arbitrary age groups. But anyway, food in China seems never to be up to par, and I’m seriously considering altering my diet to include more imported foods, regardless of price. I’d rather pay $7 for a box of cereal than pay $7,000 for a hospital bill. It’s too bad that I come to China hoping to immerse myself within its culture, but find myself having to find ways to avoid certain Chinese things. I don’t mean to say this with the idea that American everything is the best there can be. Of course it isn’t. Indeed, much of what I use and consume in the States is “Made in China.” Additionally, we also have our own food and product crises.

I just wish that the Chinese weren’t always in it for the quick profit (sound familiar, Wall Street? Learn this lesson from the Chinese, will ya?), and weren’t willing to trick consumers into believing something is perfectly fine when it’s not.

China’s notion that they can substitute harmful ingredients for real ones just for the sake of profit is seriously one that needs to be shed. Unfortunately, changing a culture 1.3 billion strong is immensely difficult, as can be seen in my futile attempt to convince Chinese citizens that I’m really not a Korean. Really.

For some reason, I’ve been unable to come up with anything to write. There are things on my mind, but I can never articulate them in a coherent block of thought-text.

Fuck…

Sometimes I see a fellow pedestrian open a door that’s marked in bright red and white lettering, “EMERGENCY EXIT.” But nothing goes off.

If it’s okay to open emergency exits, then why is it even labeled an emergency exit?! It sets a horrible precedent because then I end up opening emergency exits without second thought. Or how about this, sometimes there are two sets of emergency exit doors, and the only the first set is unarmed. This then leads me to believe that the second set of doors is also okay to open. Then, I find myself setting off alarms at heavily guarded naval academies, blushing with embarrassment, and hiding in a corner.

Yesterday, I saw airport workers casually trot in and out of a door marked in 12-inch letters, “EMERGENCY EXIT.” Today I was at Brown Health Services, and I had to go to their pharmacy upstairs. There are two different doors leading to the stairwell upstairs, both of which are clearly marked, “EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY.” From experience, I know that one door is definitely unarmed. The other one, however, has this huge red box with a lever protruding from it…this is also known by me as the “Don’t Fucking Touch Me or I’ll Make You Regret It” door. I’ve always been tempted to open the door, or camp out until someone else opens it.

I will probably never know what alarm system lies (or does not lie) within the “Don’t Fucking Touch Me” box on the door. But seriously, this isn’t Russian Roulette with building security or fire department. Why can’t emergency exits always be emergency exits?

I really need to stop registering for blogs left and right. I have a xanga, livejournal, vox, personal blog on a domain, blogspot, and god only knows what else I have out there. Luckily, I have managed to stop posting at 99% of these other registered sites.One day (soon?) I aim to consolidate and merely have one little corner on the World Wide Web.

I always get caught up in things (situations, circumstances, relationships–call it what you want) that do not work out. And in order to figure out a solution, I start to think. Then I start to ask myself questions. Simply put, I end up wasting a lot of time. ???, ????????????????????? Is it more fun that way? Or is it just the way it worked out?

 After my semester at ACC, I deeply question (doubt?) the concept of fidelity, faithfulness, monogamy. You recall, I wondered why everyone had a significant other. But now, I wonder why 99% of them cheated on their significant others during their time abroad. Cheating was a recurring topic of conversation in two-on-one and one-on-one classes; we even wrote essays on it. Should we really hold monogamy in such high regard? What’s keeping us this way? I honestly do not think that societal stability is a reason. I don’t believe that any person can ever just love one person (in one lifetime, and even in one relationship). How to resolve this issue? I haven’t a clue.

My view on relationships might all change if one day I find myself in a relationship again. (ha.)