When I visited Greer and Michael in October, one of their friends asked me what I missed most about America. I didn’t hesitate one bit and immediately answered “Ice.”
“Ice?! Wow, that’s strange” he replied. Not to me. Nobody in the US ever thinks about ice at all. If you want some, you go to the fridge and get it. If you need a lot, just buy some at the gas station or grocery store. How many recipes call for ice water? Crushed ice? Chill a bottle of wine? Bee sting relief? If you’re here, forget it.
You can make ice in your fridge, but the cubes are eenseey weensy. I have two ice trays, each can freeze about a cup of water.
The white trays came with my fridge. The blue ones are from Germany, they’re itty bitty as well, but bigger than the current set. Come to think of it, the thing I missed most in Germany was ice! My friend Lisa says you can now buy ice in shops in Germany. You couldn’t when I lived there. Just my luck. Humph.
Here are the white trays in situ. Notice the boxes of cream cheese on the shelf below, note how they are the same size as the ice cube trays.
You can’t buy ice at the store either. If you want ice in your drink, the waiter brings you the booze in a little cup, the mix on the side, and an ice bucket. He rations ice into your glass as if each cube was gold.
You can buy a fridge with an automatic ice maker, but you have to have a second water filter in addition to the one that supplies drinking water. AND, you have to wait for a long time for the fridge to come—it’s a special order.
Next time I’m at your house and I keep running the ice maker and filling my glass with ice and then letting it melt, please be understanding.
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