Hi there! This is sparklegoose! I'm an international student from Beijing, China, currently studying Cognitive Science and Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University.
Honestly, before I came here, I was super concerned about my food. To start with, food is always of extremely high priority to me, and I've heard so many terrifying things about how studying in the US will make your belly suffer with either bland food or unhealthy trash food.
...But! After staying in Pittsburgh for a while, I started to realize that I had the wrong assumption. The food here is actually very, very good!
I've tried food from so many different countries and regions beyond the food I grew up eating. Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian(my favorite!), and oh my gosh I love them all!
And I always have fun finding commonalities between food from different regions. For example, ravioli, pierogi and dumplings...they are definitely related!
Those commonalities also make me realize that the so-called cultural boundaries are definitely not as hard-to-conquer as they seem to be.
In Beijing we greet people with “吃了吗您内？(Chi Le Ma Nin Nei)?” It literally translated to "have you eaten?".
Well, I guess our ancestors are very wise and correct. It is true that food connects us all.
I will be constantly updating this website. And if you have any suggestion or comments, feel free to shoot me an email either through github or my email at sparklegoose98@gmail.com