Written by Satya Pande
What is it about?
The “Taste of America” is the program at UC Irvine which provides an opportunity for the international graduate students to have an enriching experience of having dinner with local residents or alumni. It is one of the best ways for cross-cultural exchange between international graduate students, who are away from their home country, and local Americans, who are very excited and kind to have you over for dinner. And believe me, you end up making friends for your lifetime.
How is it important?
Imagine that you are on Mars, visiting a completely new planet to you. “Well, is it possible? Buddy, I am not an astronaut!” Okay, hold on, stay with me on this example. (It might be possible in coming years, who knows, with NASA and SpaceX pushing towards commercial space flights. :D) So, back on the example, you are new on Mars and you wonder “how life is around here?”(And yes, assume that there’s life, too, on Mars. :D). You wonder about everything that seems new to you – “What do they do for a living? What do they eat? How are their houses are designed and how are they different from ours? What is their culture of living? What occasions do they celebrate? Is there any similarity between them and us?” And maybe thousands more.
This is nothing but the “culture switch” which can sometimes turn into the “cultural shock” for you. One might ask – “Amigo, how does this relate to me? I don’t plan to visit Mars in the near future”. Yes, that might be the case, but I just wanted to convey how one might feel away from the home to a completely new country, a completely new culture. For some, this might feel exactly like visiting a different world!
To be more clear, let me take an example of someone who is very close to me. And who might that be? Again, who’s closer to me than me! So, I moved to the U.S. from India. Now, even though India is considered to be a very diverse and exotic country, moving to the U.S. was something which was very new to me. I had never seen any place like this in India. There were very tangible cultural differences which I could notice right after I got out of the airport. I had a series of questions which I told you before in this article. I wanted to grasp this new culture, learn more about the way of living here.
And that’s where the “Taste of America” comes into the picture. In many countries, sharing a meal is a place of community. It is a place to have a conversation, get to know someone, and gain new perspectives. And the “Taste of America” helps international graduate students connect with the local community and to assist with their cultural adjustment. You get to visit the local residents via this program, dine over with them, and most importantly you share experiences and stories. And this is one of the best things you can do to settle in a completely new environment. Imagine someone who’s staying on Mars, is there to guide you through life on the planet. How awesome would that be! And the same thing applies here as well. When you share your experience, your stories with your hosts and they share theirs, you learn a lot about the new environment.
How does this happen?
“Okay mate, I get it now that this program is awesome and all; but how does it go? What happens and how to enroll in this program?” Yes, let me list out the details for you.
Who are involved?
Okay, as the ‘legals’ would say – “There are two parties involved – The host and the students”. As I mentioned, hosts are the local residents who might be alumni of the UC Irvine or even might be someone currently working in UC Irvine or might be not at all related to UCI as a part of the official affiliation.
And there is “You”. You and some other international graduate students in UCI will be visiting the hosts. Each host has a group of 3-5 international students over the dinner.
“But when?” That’s up to you guys – host and the students. Usually, all the meetings(or, parties!) take place sometime around Halloween or Thanksgiving. You don’t have to worry about the clashing of timings of the dinner with your midterms, the hosts know that you are the graduate students and they are considerate of your midterms and your busy schedules. But, a word of advice though, please don’t just hold up the dates and keep on postponing (negotiating) the dates with the hosts. They have to manage a lot of things for you guys, and I think we should all be very thankful for that.
So here are the steps:
1. First thing first – You register for the program
So, you register for the program online – https://goo.gl/forms/ggJxkJuFfIRVPrrh1 . You fill in the details. You provide your dietary preferences and restrictions(if you have them). Hosts are more than willing to manage according to your dietary preferences. (Again, please don’t overdo it. Don’t be rude. There’s a limit for accommodation that the hosts can provide. And remember that there are other students as well, and they might be having their preferences as well. Please respect others as well and be at least slightly open-minded.)
2. The pooling and matching is done
Once you enroll for the program, you get matched up with the hosts and the other students who will be visiting the host with you. You get the contact details of theirs and they get yours. You can now have a chat with them and start making plans.
3. You get in touch with the hosts and other students in the group
So you are now matched up with the hosts and other members, now you can get in touch with them, introduce yourselves with others. Please be nice in the chats and talk. You make plans, you decide the dates and get ready for the meet.
4. You visit, have fun, take pictures, share a meal and experiences
This is where the real fun begins. You visit the hosts. Let me share my story. I was completely new here, and I didn’t have means of travel to hosts house, and surprisingly my host – Jimmy (what a guy!), realized it without me telling him in any sort. He said he would pick me up and others too. And that’s how I met him and I grew respect for him in that short amount of time. But again, don’t expect this from everyone, they will be already having a lot to do to host you.
One more thing, even though they would never ask anything from you, but it is always good to have some knowledge of the American culture before you visit. For example, it is good to give something in return, just any small thing (need not be expensive) for appreciating their favor, their kindness, would do. In my case, other students and I had a chat before the day, we decided what to take with us. I gifted a small box of chocolates, while someone carried a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Although, the hosts don’t expect any of these from you, it is always to give back.
Also, please dress nicely on the day. You will be taking a lot of pictures. (Take a look at some of the diners – https://www.flickr.com/photos/ucigd/albums/72157674969021554/with/32126694255/)
In my case, Jimmy has a small kid and he is adorable. We all couldn’t hold back, asked Chloe (Jimmy’s wife) if we could play with him and take his pictures, and she happily agreed. And then, we all were like small children ourselves! It was amazing. We played games in his backyard and had a great time before even getting to the dining table.
Then Jimmy told us about the Halloween and Thanksgiving – why we celebrate them and its significance. We helped them to get food on the table, though they were being modest, we helped(or we tried – They basically all the stuff themselves!) It was all that we could do to help – to get food from the kitchen to the table!
Then, we talked over dinner, and I came to know that Jimmy actually lived in India for a while, and he even knew the Hindi language(an Indian language) – “Surprise, surprise!” to me. After dinner, we played some games – just normal indoor stuff. It was a great bonding with them. In the end, he even dropped us back to our houses. But again, please don’t expect this from everyone. They have a lot of cleaning up to do after you leave.
5. You stay in touch with your hosts and other students
If everything went well, you enjoy each other’s company then you can stay in touch with them. That, of course, doesn’t mean that you can bug them anytime you want. Ask their preference if you want to contact them. In my case, after dinner, I invited Jimmy and his family for the dinner and told them to contact me anytime they want to have Indian cuisine. And, I think, they were happy too.
And that’s it. You make friends, you meet new people from different backgrounds, with different views, having different ideas about the way of living. You share a meal, you talk and you learn new things about the new culture.
For more information, please visit https://sites.uci.edu/graduateinterconnect/2018/10/08/2049/
For questions, contact Gabriella Pham, International Student Support Officer at gradinterconnect@rgs.uci.edu or (949) 824-9295.