Fluffy Sparkle - Food and Culture

Manuel, a young Mexican software engineer, came to the United States in 2015. What to eat and where to eat became his foremost daily challenge. His intermediate English level couldn't fully support him to understand menus, order food, and have a conversation at a local market or restaurants. He even couldn't find authentic Mexican tacos. He missed his mom’s cooking so badly. His parents encouraged him not to give up and they would be his solid back with their unconditional love. Manuel didn't want to let his parents down. He told himself that he would lose this hard-earned opportunity if he couldn't overcome the food challenge. He started learning cooking, asking recipes from his mom. He tried harder to improve his English. He made friends, just like him, FOBs, from different countries. He finally found his way to suit himself into this new land, having a positive attitude and an open mind.  (Read the full story: http://bit.ly/2qM4yhW ) 

Two years ago, I said goodbye to my old friends and packed as much stuff as I could, moving to America from China. I even brought a rick cooker stuffed with six pairs of cotton socks for anti-friction protection. Unfortunately, it took one and a half hours to cook because I forgot the different voltage in the United States. Then, I knew we could buy it from local Asian markets and Amazon. This was just a beginning of my funny dinning adventure. As a food lover, I loving exploring different restaurants. But, non-visualized menus crammed with unfamiliar food vocabularies blocked my enthusiasm after several awkward ordering experiences at restaurants. So, I took the advice from my friends. One day, we went to a restaurant to celebrate my husband’s birthday. I was looking at the menu to pretend I was hesitating to decide. A couple of minutes later, I said, “Wow, they all look great. It’s hard for me to decide. So, can I try the same dish that table has. It looks tasty,

I joined a Professionals meet-up with my friend last year. Over sixty people showed up.The event was well-organized.It offered drinks and delicate snacks. However, my happy hour ended in thirty minutes.I scraped my crushed confidence and quickly fled. It was my first time to attend an English-speaking local event.I felt insecure and uncomfortable, even though I was not a shy person.The relaxing music, soft lights, and friendly staff soothed my anxiety.But,I was still afraid of talking with native English speakers.I would wait for someone to talk to me rather than initiate a conversation. Five minutes later,a gracious girl,standing next to me, turned around with her flushed smile."It is a nice meet-up. Is it your first time?" We started chatting. Everything went smoothly. When I learned that her parents immigrated from China, I felt the intense atmosphere was relieved in this intimidating English-speaking environment.I asked her if she was bilingual because of her Chinese