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Hello pop, burgers and pizza
By Anbarasan Thuraimanikam/Guest Column
 Anbarasan Thuraimanikam
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Where is Minnesota? my friends asks me when I told them that I was off to St. Cloud State University. The mention of Timberwolves brought a nod of knowledge to my faithful NBA mates. Where is Singapore? It is in South East Asia, where the American teenager Michael Fay was canned and jailed for vandalism. All I get is a shrug of uncertainty from my new American acquaintance.
This is the first scene of my journal documentary of my transition as a new international student at SCSU. The first thing that struck me was the weather. I had lived in a country where it is hot and humid the entire year, with occasional rainfalls of course. People are in their bermudas and sandals and cursing about how hot it is. Everyone talked about going to cooler countries in Europe and America. I was one of them. Boy did I get a bargain when I stepped into Minnesota. It is so 'cool' that I am spending most of the time indoors.
The food is another thing I am learning to adapt. Back home, rice is the staple food. We always have spicy gravies to go along with the rice. Everybody lives on chilies. Garvey does not actually dish out such stuff, though they must be credited for having bottles of chili sauces, which are constant battles that we students from Asia fight for. I'm having burgers and pizzas staring at me every day. Yes, we do eat this stuff back home, but a trip to Pizza Hut and Burger King are only if we are in a rush to grab something to eat.
The students of SCSU have been great. I get people wishing me a good morning, always smiling and ready to help. They use so much jargon and slang that I have difficulty in catching up with the conversations. I have started to keep a record in a book and have named it "The Contemporary Dictionary of American Slang" (soon to be a best seller).
Yup, life is going great so far, even if it isn't like Beverly Hills 90210. The warmth of the people at SCSU is a great comfort for the cold days we have. For me, it's goodbye to Bandung (milk drink found at home), spicy noodles and chicken curry for now, and "Hello pop, burgers and pizza."
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