Homesick and Hungry

Satoe Onizuka, 20, and studying Communications Design at Parsons is 6,741 miles away from Tokyo, the city she considers home.

What do you miss most about home?

In a sense, I felt more secure, more in control in Tokyo than I do in New York City. I also miss how efficient and clean the trains were.

What does food have to do with home?

Food is a big part of Japanese culture. The food quality is completely different to any place in the United States, and I think that’s something that I am constantly missing. A lot of Japanese meals are based around hot soup, and I think the type of soup they use is very unique to Japan. I used to be able to get good food for cheap but I feel like here, I really have to pay up to get a meal that tastes decent.

What is your earliest memory of food?

My earliest memory of food was probably strawberries. I used to call them “strawbabies” and they were my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

Mintra Morrison, 19, and studying Communications Design at Parsons is 8,651 miles away from Bangkok, the city she considers home.

What do you miss most about home?

I miss the culture, the warm weather, my family and especially the food.

What does food have to do with home?

Thai food has a lot of flavors. Every time I have Thai food here I think of home or it reminds me of an aspect of home. For example, when I have Somtam here it reminds me of my favorite restaurant back home and who I would like to have that meal with. Also, when I go to Thai restaurants here I get to speak Thai with the people who work there.

What is your favourite memory of food?

Every New Years, my Thai family and I would go out for a huge gathering with Thai food. In Thailand, we usually share the dishes in the center of the table, which I personally think is very interactive. It also means you can try different dishes. Everyone shares, and it gives the meal a sense of family and community.

 

 

 

 

 

Doris Abaiweh, 19, and studying Journalism and Design at Eugene Lang  is 5,693 miles away from Cameroon, the country she considers home.

What do you miss most about home?

I miss the culture in Cameroon. Everything is so lively. Everything about it from the way we grow and prepare our foods to how traditions are passed down is just so lively and fun. Even when people are struggling, there are moments when you forget that because you are so immersed with all the happiness that is around.

What does food have to do with home?

Some of my favorite memories are when my mom and I would wake up and go to our farm. We’d go and plant everything because everything we ate, we planted. Even our eggs came from our two chickens. We’d plant everything from yams to beans to herbs and tomatoes and pumpkins. We even had sugar canes in our backyard. I miss sugarcanes.

What is your earliest memory of food?

There is this food called “chin-chin” which is a deep fried snack. For our family, it’s just festive because we’d always make it for holidays. I remember one Christmas, we set up this table in our front yard and we were just cutting and frying and making chin-chin’s.

 

 

 

 

 

Rhoda Whong, 19, and studying Fashion Design at Parsons is 8,040 miles away from Hong Kong, the city she considers home.

What do you miss most about home?

What I miss most about home is also what I don’t miss most about home: my mom taking most of the daily responsibility and chores. Sometimes it’s nice to not do any housework or cook but at the same time there is less freedom at home and I don’t feel as independent. I also miss my friends because in my high school everyone was really close. Even in different groups of friends we all interact, play sports or party together. They’ve been my friends for over four years so it’s always nice to see familiar faces and have that friendship as soon as we see each other again when we visit home or each other.

What does food have to do with home?

My mom cooks everything for us, and I think the way my mom prepares food is really caring. It’s just the thoughtfulness of her asking us what we want to eat and then cooking what we want to eat.

What is your earliest memory of food?

I remember my brother and I used to hate eating vegetables, but our mom always used to make us eat a big plate of them for dinner. When my mom used to leave the room to get something we’d just throw all the vegetables back on the center dish because all Chinese dishes are shared. And she’d never notice us doing that.

 

 

 

 

 

Natalia Flores, 19, and studying Communications Design at Parsons is 2,412 miles away from Venezuela, the country she was born in but she has lived in six different countries in South America before moving here.

What do you miss most about home?

I guess my parents and having that comfort of home.

What does food have to do with home?

It’s a way to remember where you’re from. We would also always eat every single dinner together as a family. We also have a tradition of eating lunch together every single Sunday.

What is your earliest memory of food?

I burnt my hand with a pizza once and I still have the scar on my hand. I was like six years old, and the scar is huge and has been there forever. It was so painful, and people still ask me about the scar.