As an expat I think it’s pretty common to bring back food from your home country. Sometimes it’s because the the same product is just ridiculously expensive-hello $10/box cereal. (I even know one person who would freeze big blocks of cheese and hide them deep in her checked luggage. The cheese would thaw during the flight, but still be cool when she landed.) Or, you stockpile because you just can’t find it in the country you’re living in (mmm, Girl Scout cookies, candy corn, etc.) I also tend to buy multiples of things when they’re either one sale or just randomly happen to be in the store (butterscotch chips).
We think our time in Suzhou is limited, although we don’t know anything for certain. So, I decided that it might be time to start eating from the pantry. A few weeks ago I went to the store, bought $50 worth of food (although not just for one meal, but still) and all I managed to eliminate from my stockpile was a taco seasoning packet. I must rethink my tactics.
For anyone who lived with me at 4-H House in college it brings back memories of the end of the semester. If the commissar did a good job managing the finances, we’d have a surplus at the end of the semester, and we’d dine like queens during finals week. Shrimp, steak and other foods we hadn’t eaten for a whole semester. Except for our situation, I foresee a lot of tacos, tea, Crystal Light, lentils and butterscotch cookies in our future!
