We always want what we don't have. We always want something that is different than our current circumstance. That is me right now. And I'm not talking about my entire experience here, but one aspect of that experience: the food. When I am at home I enjoy eating food from different places, and will often desire food that is not "North American". Note: I am not entirely sure what North American food is, other than it is probably anything gross for you that clogs arteries, etc, etc. I love Thai food, but going from eating the Americanized version of something to the real deal can be a little shock to the system. For those of you who have not experienced this out-of-country phenomenon, this is when a familiar dish holds very little familiarity because most of the ingredients are changed to the local vegetables, and there are many different additions and subtractions. Also, I am sure most food that is here is not even found in "Thai restaurants" in Canada.
I tend to like to be able to identify the food I am eating. I have always been a little bit OCD about this, and I always have to have the lights on bright when I eat. If the family ever had dinner and a movie nights, I would make sure that the lights were on so I could see my food. I just need to know what I am eating and be able to know. I also have to smell my food before I eat it and any cup/container that I am going to eat out of/drink out of before I put anything into it. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have always been this way. I think I have lost this OCD habit of mine, because there is no use here. I can eat in the most well lit room and I still don't know what I am eating. I will ask if there is any seafood in something and then break out in hives to find out that there was something fishy with my food (literally...ha). A lot of the food here is an adventure, but there are a lot of very delicious adventures. There are also many a food adventure that I wish I never took. When it comes to hiking and outdoor adventures, there are some that have been hilarious and had mishaps, but I can't say I can look back and want to reverse my decision to go on any of them. This is a different sort of adventure than a food adventure. There are many food adventures that I would retrospectively reverse in a second.
I find myself wanting North American food often. The problem here is that most American sorts of food that they offered are just food that is bad for you. You can find hamburgers and McDonalds, which are familiar, but not something I want to eat. The familiar places include fast food chains like KFC, McDonalds and Dairy Queen. I never have cravings for this type of food from home. I crave the weirdest things here and if I were to make a list of the foods I miss most it would include the following:
1. Quinoa. I dreamt about a package coming with a bag of quinoa in it and it made my week. Then I woke up. Worst.
2. Yams. The closest things to yam here is Japanese pumpkin, so I have taken a liking to this stuff. I currently have 4 Japanese pumpkins sitting on the table waiting for me to consume them. I just love yams and they are probably one of my favourite foods.
3. Avocado. I love avocado so much and they have it here, but it is not the same as home. It doesn't really even taste like the same thing.
4. Licorice Tea.....this country doesn't know what its missing by not stocking its shelves with licorice tea!
5. Twelve grain bread-this might be the first food I eat when I come home. They have bread here, but it is mostly white or a very bleached version of whole wheat bread.
6. Cheese. They have cheese here, but it costs an arm and a leg for about a fingernails worth.
7. Peppers. Peppers are super expensive also, and just so delicious. I eat them like apples at home, but that cannot be done here when they are $2 a piece.
8. Cereal. I just love cereal, but there are multiple problems with cereal here. First, they don't carry a lot of cereal. Second, the cereal they do have is all sugary cereal, which I don't eat anyways. Third, it costs so much (maybe $10) for a box of cereal. The glimmer of hope in this situation is that for some weird reason Corn Flakes are cheap here. You can get them for $2 a box, and I do love corn flakes! I am pretty certain this is because everything in this country is made with a combination of corn and fish, so they obviously would carry corn flakes! Either way, I'm stoked they have corn flakes.
I am going to stop my list there, because I realized it is getting long and I sound like I am complaining. In reality I never thought I would miss these foods, but I do! Rice and noodles get old quickly, and things like pork balls take some getting used to! I think the funniest thing I have encountered at school lunch so far has been chunks of congealed blood in some of the dishes. Most school lunches are unidentifiable anyways, so congealed blood can be masked in the contents. It makes me nauseous just thinking about it.
All in all, Thai food is not bad. I eat most of my food off the street, and there are some good things. When I travel I get to taste some of the most delicious Thai food and it makes me really enjoy Thai dishes. I know that as I write this I want those things that I listed on my list, but I can also predict that when I get home I will be craving things that I have here. As I said, we never want what we have, and we always want what we don't have. I just have to remember that one day when I am back home I will be craving Som Tom and will not be able to have it there, so I better enjoy it while I can!
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