The spring rolls I wanted.

What in the world!!! I bet not a lot of people know about the sheer diversity of culture shocks possible in our world (the good, the not so good, and the not at all good) – not until you have experientially navigated the over 3,814 distinct cultures globally (said to be an underestimated figure). I shall try to follow a normal distribution with some of my experiences since I got to Aggieland, particularly, from an international student population lens – you can tell my statistics game is on; grad school has a way of doing that to one.
 
Today, I will start with my all-time favorite: food! I have slowly learned the importance of checking the menu keenly, thoroughly, annoyingly maybe, googling to see a picture, and even clarifying the taste before placing my order nowadays. No more surprises, especially when you have learned the hard way; those $$$s are from a very limited budget. Moreover, I would hate to have a repeat of what happened when I ordered spring rolls at a dine-in but got served their own version, instead. To make matters more interesting, I had my kiddos with me, hungry, and looking forward to the crispy brown, stuffed, delicious spring rolls we know and have come to love. It was a teeny weeny bit of drama when we found ourselves in the what I ordered versus what I got dilemma. The conversation went something like: “Errr, looks like a wrong order; excuse me chef, this isn’t our African spring rolls,” and the response sounded like: “Of course not! Why would it be, ma’am? This is proudly Vietnamese style.” It was neatly served, looked like sushi wrap with cute chunks, and it would have been a perfect taste, except we weren’t sushi lovers. I had hypothesized that African spring rolls = global spring rolls, available in any eatery. Simply eyeballing the sample data, we did not need further statistical analysis to fail to accept the null hypothesis – YAY! Needless to say, we left there hungry, and would not be in a hurry for a repeat.
 
Summarily on food, I now exercise a great deal of caution when accepting lunch invitations; it was an incredibly hard call, after being served a blue plate of kale & cherry tomatoes with cheese and stuff. For someone who had never had kale prior, nor a fan of raw tomatoes, I lived through the ordeal, with the most accommodating smile I could muster, and voila, I can now eat kale and tomatoes with some yummy dips seldomly! However, I refuse to get over my dismay of when I asked for yam and got served sweet potatoes. I know some people luurrv their sweet potatoes, I get it, but I assure you, it tastes nothing like my oldest-favorite-love-till-tomorrow, African yam – especially with a spicy egg sauce dish! Maybe one day it won’t be so expensive to buy the original yam here. We are in a world where 7,000 miles is just enough to create a luxury relationship with your once-upon-a-time affordable native food. If you are settling into these new food shocks, please share. Let us empathize with your experiences.
 
In my next blog, I will continue this series and tell you all about the beg button on the pedestrian crossing at Olsen Blvd.


– Woome
 
Olawunmi Ilesanmi is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications.