Living and studying in the United States is something that I admired as a child because that country is a land of opportunities. However, sometimes the American culture portrays the highest levels of racism. As a foreigner, sometimes it is easy for one to feel like it is out of place because of how people look at you when you do things that your culture appreciates and values. I enjoy easting because that is something that has been in my family since I was born. They are types of food we love as part of the Chinese culture. However, I always feel that the people around me do not like the Chinese eating culture. Some people have an entirely negative attitude towards the Chinese culture, which is not a wrong thing, but how they show their negative attitude displayed as a form of racism.
The Chinese culture has a love for certain types of food that are not liked or eaten in other places. Cooking is an activity that my mother loved doing most of her time, and this aspect became part of our family culture. Some of the food that we eat in China but the rest of the world or the American culture is against dog meat and other wild animals such as monkeys. The outbreak of COVID-19 is associated with the consumption of wild animals, especially monkeys. Based on the fact that the virus originated from China, almost every Chinese was associated with the virus. I did not travel back to China when the world went on lockdown, and international travel was banned worldwide. However, it is part of my family culture to eat fish-flavored eggplant almost daily, especially in the morning. Still, the outbreak of COVID-19 forced my family to change our meal timetable, which hard the traditional Chinese foods. Sometimes even ordering food from Non-Chinese restaurants was a problem because they were associated with the virus.
I think a significant influence on people's attitude towards the Chinese in the country is the constant misinformation from President Donald Trump concerning the virus and his continuous negative attitude towards China. Walking even in the streets has been a problem as people think I carry the virus. I was used to eating Chinese, but since the outbreak of the virus, I have been forced to adapt to western food, especially fries, because when you walk into a restaurant and ask for Chinese food, especially meat-related food. I even remember a day when somebody asked me, "How are you feeling now that the world is dying because of you?" I did not know how to answer the question, but his attitude showed that he hated Chinese, and he could do anything to avoid coming close to a Chinese person, mainly in a restaurant.
For many years, such an attitude promoted the culture of racism towards the Asian people and other communities, especially people of color. The Chinese people's negative attitude has even forced many Chinese hotels operating in different parts of the country to change what they prepare in their restaurants. There is no doubt that people's opinion plays a significant role in affecting how we behave. The stereotyping associated with COVID-19 is one significant factor that has impacted how different I behave today. Sometimes even talking about Chinese culture before people is becoming a challenge. I have to state that my family values the Chinese culture very much. This aspect is reflected in the family meals timetable with different foods such as Egg Roll, Sesame Chicken, Tso's chicken, and wonton soup orange chicken, among others.
People's opinions also affect our self-esteem, and it sometimes leads us to avoid public places due to fear of being looked down upon. With the closure of different Chinese restaurants that sold wild meat or food made from wild meat, the only remaining option was to try and get what I would think of as essential and good for my eating habit from White restaurants. Making such a decision was not easy because I had to start by thinking about how the people I will meet at the restaurant will look at me. I always thought that the negative attitude among white people is always directed towards black people. My experience since the outbreak of COVID-19 has proved that the negative attitude affects even the Asians, Arabs, and people from the Caribbeans. The outbreak of COVID-19 allowed some people to show their hidden hatred towards the Chinese people because there is no doubt that most people have been discriminated against just because they come from China, even though some were born and raised in the United States.
People's attitude has significantly impacted the change of personal eating habits have developed towards Chinese food and how people look at the Chinese community. Furthermore, the country's leadership has been at the forefront in creating the negative towards the Chinese community. There is no doubt that people's eating habits are connected to their social norms, which implies that my eating habits are part of my family culture. However, the negative attitude and judgment accompanied by aspects of racism have forced just me. When we arrived in the United States, I had great hopes of living in a community where people are viewed as the same irrespective of their skin color. My mum has occasionally traveled to China and came back with different Chinese cooking ingredients, including stacks of wonton fillings and wonton wrappers.
Before arriving, she would always tell me what she is coming with and her arrival team, and these are among the reason I developed the eating habit and the love for Chinese food that I have. On arrival, I would take the bag I believed had the food staff and rushed to the kitchen to do what I love doing, making my favorite meal. I realized that even my friends do not like it when I talk about Chinese food when because of the misinformation associated with Chinese food since the outbreak of the virus. Before the virus outbreak, I remember when we even went to Chinese restaurants and ate different types of Chinese food. However, that culture has since changed with some feeling they will contact the virus when they eat the food and get some Chinese people.
Sometimes I think of completely changing the food menu, but just as I stated at the beginning of this paper, my love of eating originated in my family because I have keen to study food. My mother's cooking skills have broken through the field of home cooking. She often sees something on TV or chats with friends, and she cooks it silently when she returns home. She loves to cook and will take time to do it. When I was in middle school, I said I wanted to eat fish-flavored eggplant, so our family used to cook this dish for a long time, and then everyone tasted it together and made suggestions for amendments. Now it is one of our signature dishes. Regarding cooking, the two most common words from mothers are, "good food takes more time" and "this is quite simple; let's try it out."
I have always said that I am a lucky person. I was born in a southern city with rich ingredients and an exquisite diet. For children with a healthy appetite, their perceptions of the outside world are usually divided into "eatable" and "inedible." Nothing matches the taste of my mother's cook. My mom does not look like a graceful southern woman at all. She is tall and has a strong voice. She is a model worker in the financial company and a tireless model mother and wife at home. Grandma is the last generation of full-time housewives in traditional Chinese society. The cooking experience accumulated by several generations of family women enables them to rely on skills to prepare a table of nutritious meals for their families, even in the era of relative material scarcity.
I came to the United States for university, and my mother deliberately traveled from China to Los Angeles. The mother's tall and sturdy figure was already a little rickety, and her hair was grey. In the heavy luggage, as usual, there are many hometown ingredients. Even in the zip bag, there are thick stacks of rolled wonton wrappers and wonton fillings, Listen at this point, my eyes became moist. As soon as she arrives at my place, she unpacked the bag and ran toward the kitchen. She pulled out her secret weapon, a pair of extra-long chopsticks carved by bamboo, scooping from the tumbling pot. A row of slender lines neatly stacked in the transparent soup, and then served with a few slices of green vegetables, three or four slices of thinly sliced beef, and a little bit of oil star among the fat texture is leached by the hot soup, floating on the surface.
The noodle emits crystal yellow and shiny radiant, surrounding the fresh green onions, white, red, and green all gathered in that bowl. The vapor evacuates and brings out a hot aroma. This cooking process is not over yet. She sprinkled a handful of soybeans in the bowl, which is the finishing touch to the whole bowl. After putting the bowl on the dining table, I rapidly picked up my chopstick and dropped gracelessly into a chair. After frying soybeans in a high fire, they turn into firm texture, wrinkled skin with a translucent layer, and crispy burnt smell. Before they all sink into the soup, I put a few into your mouth and chew them carefully. Aroma enveloped me in a soft mist. It was enjoyable to shoveling noodles into my mouth, conducting a coherent eating procedure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think people's attitude towards the Chinese community since the outbreak of the coronavirus has had severe impacts on the behavior of millions of Chinese people living in the United States and other parts of the world. They have been forced to not only change what they consume but how they relate with other people. Furthermore, I think it would be right to say that the United States is a diverse nation, but the racist culture has not changed. The majority of Americans embrace the cultural diversity in this country; however, there are those who firmly still hold racist ideologies.
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