“Do you want fries with that?” is a dreaded phrase for many exchange students.
Greasy, American fast food is a concern for many students trying to make healthy choices, and spending a year in the heart of super-size land exacerbates that struggle.
One way students avoid the drive-thru is loading up the kitchen instead of the car.
“We try to have all the basics around all the time — rice, pasta, salad, bacon, eggs,” said Yannick Cafferty, German industrial engineering and management student. “Every time we go to Walmart, we try to think of two or three meals for the week.”
But for Cafferty, cooking isn’t a solo affair.
“We decided the first day to cook and shop for everyone,” she said. “It’s not harder to cook more of the same thing, and it’s much more fun.”
His roommates said they, too, appreciate this cooking system.
“Last week I was really busy with my homework, and I was really pleased to know I didn’t need to worry about the dinner,“ said Aris Phylaktou, Greek aerospace engineering student.
When asked if they try to focus on healthy food, Cafferty said it all depends if pasta is considered healthy. Many exchange students eat pasta by default.
“I couldn’t survive without my pasta,” said Luisa Mencacci, Italian graduate student in foreign language.
Italian food has been well integrated in American culture, but Mencacci said it is far from the original product.
“Macaroni and cheese are not pasta; it’s fast food. It’s totally different from the way we do it,” Mencacci said.
For her, healthy food and fresh vegetables are the most important part of eating, even if it means going twice a week to Walmart, Mencacci said.
But healthy is not always the priority.
“The most important things are fresh products and quality; it’s OK if it’s not always the healthiest,” said Julien Fontaine, French graduate student in history. “I always try to eat real good meat, like a good steak from Oklahoma.”
Fontaine said he cooked often in France and continued to cook when he came to the United States to study.
“I cook because I like it, because it’s delicious and because there’s nothing that can suit your taste better than what you cook for yourself,” Fontaine said.
And while many worry about unhealthy American options, for French student Jordane Pisciotto, healthy food is not a priority.
“I eat pizza, hamburgers, pasta and bread for the most part,“ said Pisciotto, French graduate student in comparative law and international politics. “ I never eat vegetables. I just don’t like them, and besides, they are hard to cook.”
Breakfast is about the only thing Pisciotto is willing to attempt.
“I didn’t know how to break an egg before, so that’s all new to me,” Pisciotto said.
He said he always had someone to cook his meals and did not see the point in learning.
“I don’t even want to learn how to cook; I just survive,” Pisciotto said.
And despite many students’ desire to cook at home, they don’t have time between classes to return to their apartment to cook.
“For lunch I have no choice but to eat American food,” said Yougmin Kim, Korean linguistics and English education student. “But I usually cook because I want to treat my traditional food to my roommates.”
Even though she didn’t cook back in Korea, she has to now.
“I learned quickly because nowadays it’s easy to go look a recipe on the Internet,” Kim said.
To find Korean food in large quantities, she and her friends had to go to the Hmart, an extensive Asian supermarket in Dallas, to stock up for several months.
“I understand it’s a different culture, but I don’t feel like eating American food for a long time,” Kim said. “I’m afraid for my health.”
Whatever solution exchange students choose, many agree American food is different from what they are used to.
“This is like little things that you have at home, and you think it’s the same thing here, but it’s not,” Cafferty said. “It just doesn’t hit the spot. It seems that everything is overly processed.”
But Fontaine said he knows campus food doesn’t represent all American food.
“The only American food we know is the bad one, but the real Thanksgiving, Mom-cooked food, this is what I’d like to eat,” Fontaine said.
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braceyourself 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Why is this article even relevant? If anyone (foreign or domestic...or was this just an anti-America article) doesn't want to go eat fast food, they simply don't have to go eat fast food.
But to say that being asked if they want fries is a "dreaded phrase" is just a little over the top.