What's the big deal?

There is not much like a good cup of coffee. My preference these days is black, decaf no sugar, but that is be beauty of coffee. You can have it almost anyway you like. You can add flavors or sugar or cream or milk or nothing. You can buy flavored coffee, bold coffee, espresso, whole beans or ground. There's even instant, phew phew phew ... when that's the only option.

So, we heard rumors last semester that there was going to be a Starbuck's in Harbin. We all went on a march to see if it was true; but nothing. This past week, our teammates saw the actual sign where a Starbuck's is coming in the near future. Even those on the team who don't drink coffee seemed excited.

A group of us were talking about this when a Chinese friend said, "What's the big deal?"

So what is the big deal? It seems, from my experience, that there are levels to a city becoming "modern" in China. First, you get fake stuff like fake western restaurants that serve pizza with mayonaise on them. Second, you get KFC. After you pass the Kentucky test, you might a McDonald's and or Pizza Hut (but probably not at the same time). Along the way, there are some coffee shops that also sell green tea freezes of some kind.

It is only the truly modern among these cities that get the renown Starbuck's Coffee. When this happens, people who might have never even cared about Starbuck's in America find themselves saving the date that the shop will open and evaluating their budgets to decide how many coffee caramel frap's with whip cream and chocolate syrup they can have the first month it is open.

All that aside, some people really like the coffee. Not sure it will make into my heart, but I am happy for the city.
(Thank you Taylors for the picture.)
明天见！ See ya' tomorrow!