One of most common representations of culture is in the form of food. In that respect when I first came to Richmond the American International University while I knew that the cafeteria food would not be the same as going out to a restaurant, I still expected some of the food served to the students to have a basis of English culture. What I did find out however was that the cafeteria tried to serve food from across the world, and based on the opinions of natives from those countries, the food poorly represented the country.
Going out into the restaurants in town has been an experience as well. Unexpectedly, depending on which restaurant one goes into depends on the quality of the food. While McDonalds may have gained more appeal from those in the United States due to its cleaner appearance and fresher meat, other restaurants lack in the satisfying taste. Listening to the other students at the university I began to understand that the reason many students may not like the food is not necessarily because of the quality but because of expectations.
When the German students eat schnitzel they may not like it because the schnitzel they eat back home is such a different quality and made of different minor ingredients that when they expect the home cooked meal and do not get it they are disappointed. I myself have eaten a steak or eggs and bacon and have thought that it did not taste well or I ended up being disappointed. What I eventually ended up realizing was when I ate the eggs at a small café what was different was that instead of using butter to grease the pan, cooks here use oil and that’s what changes the taste. After I realized the difference in taste, while still strange in my mouth, the eggs seemed more different than bad.
This mentality started to spread to other aspects of English culture, and then culture in general, and soon realized that bad became new.
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