Europeans joke about the way Americans drink milk, and there are a lot of ads for adult milk drinking (all those white mustaches on celebritities). But no one I know, except my teenage daughter, drinks milk by the glass on a regular basis, except as an occasional comfort treat with a hot brownie or fresh bread. (I encourage my daughter, because of the calcium, and because we have such good milk available.) What a surprise to find the Chinese drinking glasses of milk with their evening meals! I’ve seen this twice already.

The other thing I’m trying to work out about eating out is that when I go to a restaurant with Chinese friends, they are often offered a private room. This isn’t as much fun, and I’d like to discourage it but don’t know how. Especially because I don’t know what the motivation is: to honor the foreigners, or to get us out of sight?