A Cultural Interaction for the Record Books

Last weekend, Ali's homestay parents and mine requested we cook them an American dinner. Ali and I decided the easiest meal to manage with mostly Chinese ingredients was grilled cheese, tomato soup, a salad, and banana splits for dessert. I had been looking forward to using a kitchen and cooking my own food for the first time since I arrived here. After buying the ingredients at the Carrefour supermarket, Ali and I began what we thought would be a fun activity but turned into a disaster. Firstly, the cooking utensils and supplies made things difficult- woks are not the best for making grilled cheese sandwiches. This delayed the whole process and we anxiously tried to finish cooking while our families paced the living room and leaned over our shoulders. Okay finally finished, bon appetite... But they just stared at the food. It was like aliens had cooked them dinner and they didn't know what to do. Some brave soul picked up a grilled cheese with their chopsticks and took a nibble. Where was the sauce? They looked around and found the ranch salad dressing and packets of peanut butter (Ali's brother had bought them earlier). I tried to explain they could dip the grilled cheese in the tomato soup but who listens to the crazy person who brought this food upon them. They proceeded to ignore Ali and my instructions, and we watched them pour out the entire bottle of ranch on the salad and grilled cheese. Then someone started squeezing out the packets of peanut butter onto the lettuce. Luckily, there was also available yogurt in the refrigerator and that too was poured onto the food. It appeared they didn't want to even see the food, so they found every possible sauce to cover it up. Ali and I sat in the corner, in isolation and in shock. When we mentioned we still had to make dessert, there was silence. Their faces said it all- fear. I offered, maybe another day and they all breathed a sigh of relief. They would be more prepared next time the aliens made the food. They could also make their own. Never again.