by Meihan Chen | Liberal Arts and Science | Class of 2023
Academic Term of Essay Subject: Fall Semester 2019

Prize Winner

From a classmate at Miami University, I heard an interesting phrase, ‘Freshman 15’, which means that many freshmen typically increase their weight by 15 pounds. I have a deep understanding of this. As a student who has traveled across half the globe from China to the United States, I feel the pronounced difference in food culture. This difference made me gain almost 15 pounds, but I don’t know the exact number because I don’t dare to weigh myself, and to escape weighing, I didn’t even buy a scale. One day, passing through the electronic scale area of Walmart, I pushed the shopping cart to go straight to the food area. In Walmart’s food area, there are many quick-frozen foods and large packs of snacks, and I like them. In the end, I left Walmart with a shopping cart full of food.

I come from Shanghai, a typical southern Chinese city, and most food in Shanghai is small and exquisite. At lots of restaurants in Shanghai, the dishes are only the size of a palm. After coming to the United States, I have found that the size of food in American restaurants is much larger than expected. In Miami University canteen, fried chicken nuggets are about two times larger than China’s, and hamburgers are also one and a half times larger. Even Coke is offered unlimited, and I can have as much as I want. In China’s fast-food restaurants, Coke sold by a cup. If you’re going to drink more, you have to pay for it in China. When I first came to the United States, I liked this kind of service in the restaurants, but it didn’t take long for me to get fat. It may be because I don’t want to waste food. Even if I am full, I will eat all the food I bought, and even greedily have another cup of Coke. I adapted to the different food in the two countries so well that I am distressed when looking at the fat on my belly.

As an introverted international student, I always feel lonely. Whenever I really can’t bear the loneliness, I eat chocolate or chips, which always make me feel better. I am not good at communicating with American students, nor am I good at making friends with other students from China. However, I always have a soul resonance with my food. My friendship with food is quiet and profound, while my communication with my classmates is noisy and short. The life in universities in America is different from that of high schools in China. In high school, everyone is in the same classroom all day long, and it is easy to make friends. When it comes to the study at university, everyone has different courses and learns in different classes, and even classmates rarely communicate. Therefore, when I am alone and with no one to talk with, chewing snacks and making a squeaky voice always makes me comfortable.