Many foreign students will feel uncomfortable when they first arrive in the United States. Although language communication may be a little rough, there are many daily exchanges, and everyone can understand each other's intentions. But daily habits are different, and it is really not easy to adapt overnight. I remember when I first arrived in California, I lived in a family in America. Get up at six in the morning, and the breakfast provided by American families is bread with ice! Cow! Milk! Yes, I just took it out of the refrigerator. Perhaps with a little freshness and curiosity, I finished drinking iced milk. As a result, when I first arrived at school, I felt a stomachache and chilled milk was tossing in my stomach! I remember this feeling. Although California is not cold in winter, the iced milk every morning is really uncomfortable!
Don't think I'm too melodramatic. I'm used to a glass of iced milk for breakfast. Many students in the same industry feel the same way. American food is not what we think. If you eat hamburgers and western food occasionally in China, you can have a change occasionally. If you face lettuce, bread jam and McDonald's fast food every day in college for several years, you will find that you will lose your appetite in a few days. You know, it is very pleasant to go to McDonald's for a change once in a while, but if you eat McDonald's every day, it is estimated that few people can stand it.
Being unaccustomed to studying in the United States should be the common aspiration of international students. Children living in busy big cities in America are another matter. ) I have heard many incredible stories about encountering roast duck, steamed bass and braised pork hands in my dreams. Especially when the exam is coming and the pressure is high, the aroma of rice, the tea made by grandpa and the carefree hot pot are all fascinating. I believe that not only people who go abroad will have this experience, but all those who are far away from home and struggle outside will understand this feeling. The stomach seems to be connected with the heart. A kind of food, a kind of taste, has become the real carrier of our abstract homesickness. Just like during the Spring Festival, it is practical to eat a bowl of jiaozi with the whole family after dinner, and it is much more comfortable to drink porridge cooked by your family when you are sick.
American food culture can be said to be both diverse and single. Diversity means that you can eat Chinese food, Mexican food, Indian food, Italian food, Japanese food, Korean food, French food and so on in America. As for the taste, it's a matter of opinion, so I won't talk about it here for the time being. If you are in Flushing, new york, it is estimated that you can eat more authentic local snacks than in China. However, the food in the United States itself is very monotonous. From the east coast to the west coast, from the north near the North Pole to the tropical south, there is little difference in diet throughout the United States. It's nothing more than fried chicken or roast turkey, fried fish steak, French fries, baked sweet potatoes, fried sausages, scrambled eggs, waffles and boiled broccoli, boiled corn kernels, desserts that are so sweet that sugar particles melt between your teeth, and so on. Facing a shining delicious meal, I think of the white steamed buns in the south of the Yangtze River, the ice powder in Chongqing, the rice flour in Yunnan, the jelly in Shaanxi, the saute spicy chicken in Xinjiang, the roast whole sheep in Inner Mongolia and the rich sauerkraut Huimian Noodles in the northeast, I always feel a strong sense of self-abuse.
However, the reality is that you have to face all kinds of American food, and foreign fast food such as McDonald's is often the mainstream food in American university canteens. Our school has two big canteens open to students, serving American classic food in fixed stalls every day? Hamburgers and pizza. Chefs often change their patterns and add different ingredients to pizza, such as blueberry sauce pizza, but this one is even worse.
There are different kinds of food in different stalls in the canteen. Staple food stalls often serve American hot dishes, such as beef, mashed potatoes, beans and pasta. Sometimes they serve popular Mexican food such as tacos and potato chips dipped in minced meat sauce.
Williamsburg, the town where the school is located, is not too far from the seaside, but you can never eat fresh fish in the canteen. The fish served in the canteen tastes very strong, so you have to add lemon to it. There is no fresh shrimp, crab or shellfish. You can eat seafood cakes made of bread crumbs, butter and cheese, or cheese soup with seafood flavor. As a crazy cheese lover, I think the seafood cakes and soup at school are not bad.
Americans have the habit of eating lettuce, and the school cafeteria has set up a vegetable salad bar. When eating with American classmates, they always jump into the salad bar with a plate of green lettuce and eat it like rabbits. I think judging whether a person is. West stomach? See if he (she) likes vegetable salad.
I don't know if it's because of the eating habits of overseas students in China or because Americans also like to eat Chinese food. The two canteens in the school have special Asian food stalls. However, the Chinese food cooked in the canteen is particularly American, and China students don't like it very much. For example, the staff of the fried noodle stand often ask? Do you want sweet and sour sauce? I tried to add it, and it tasted like the sweet and sour chicken of McDonald's.
The varieties closest to Chinese food here are fried noodles and fried rice. It is impossible to eat authentic Chinese food, such as white rice with stir fry. There are two ways for international students in China to improve their lives. One is to go to the supermarket to buy ingredients and then cook Chinese food in their dormitory, or occasionally go to a local Chinese restaurant to relieve their hunger.
In fact, some American students are not satisfied with the diet in the school cafeteria, and think that fried junk food accounts for the majority. They sometimes go to the supermarket to buy high-quality bread, milk and fresh ingredients to make sandwiches. But as a resident, cooking by yourself is tantamount to wasting the canteen set meal that you have already spent money on.
According to the regulations of the school, all resident students must buy a set meal in the canteen when registering for payment, which can be eaten 14 times or 19 times a week for choice. You have to swipe your card every time you enter the canteen. No matter how much you eat, how much you deduct is the same. The price of a meal is about 13 dollars. The price is a bit expensive for a person like me who doesn't eat much.
But if you cook or eat out by yourself, the money left in the canteen meal card can be spent on the school convenience store to buy biscuits and other foods.
The school canteen also has a human side. They provide special food for special groups. For example, vegetarian stalls provide beans, corn, rice and other foods. There is also a stall where the food is gluten-free, which is specially set up for students with celiac disease, because white people with this disease can't absorb gluten-containing food.
Eating in the canteen every day is really annoying. Fortunately, there are fresh fruits, juice, milk, drinks, desserts and ice cream every day, which makes me feel that the canteen is still attractive.
I remind you that if you want to eat well abroad, you might as well learn a few dishes at home and cultivate your independence. I hope everyone can eat well and learn well overseas, and spend their study abroad life smoothly and safely!