Japanese student reacts to UK food: “How did One Direction survive growing up in this country?”

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Sometimes the biggest culture shocks are the ones you have to put in your mouth.

Studying abroad can be one of the most eye-opening and inspiring experiences you can have. You get to immerse yourself in another culture, see how other humans live their daily lives, and be shocked at how certain things you take for granted are completely alien elsewhere.

And, if you’re like the older sister of Japanese Twitter user @0615Midori, you can freak out when you suddenly realize that you can’t eat any of this crazy foreign food:

▼ “I’m a bit worried if my sister is going to come back alive from studying in the UK.”
(Translations below.)

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The rice… is so bad… I’m gonna die…
The desserts… are so sugary… I’m gonna die…
The meat… tastes like… monster meat…
Today’s rice… tasted like… detergent…
I thought a KitKat would be okay, since we have them in Japan…
It was sugary…
Oh my god it was so sugary…
I thought I’d try… a fruit… so I bought a strawberry…
It just tasted like pesticides…
The orange juice…

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It’s way too sugary too…
The grape juice…
It had no flavor…
The water…
It tasted like rust…
…I’ve lost weight…
When I was…
On the verge of malnutrition…
I went to McDonald’s…
“A fish burger and apple pie please…”
The fish burger…
It was sour…

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The apple pie…
It too… was nothing but sugar…
What is wrong with this country…
I feel hopeless…
How did One Direction survive growing up in this country…?
I’ve come to appreciate Japanese food now…
And…
In the five days since I’ve been here…
I finally found…
Something I can eat…
Oranges…
They’ve very sour…
And everybody says they’re bad, but…

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They’re perfect for me…
I mean…
They’re the only thing keeping me alive…
…the end…

While the sister’s reaction is obviously over the top, in all honesty the first time I went to Japan, I was shocked by how flavorful the produce was. Pretty much every apple, banana, plum and carrot I’d had before in the U.S. was utterly bland in comparison. Not saying that’s true everywhere, but it certainly was for me.

Although when she asks “How did One Direction survive growing up in this country…?” it’s just a little bit hard to not laugh out loud and forget all about taking her seriously.

Either way though, here’s what Japanese netizens had to say, which mostly consisted of an outpouring of sympathy from her homeland:

“Stay strong, sister.”
“You only have, uh, a few hundred days to go, right?”
“Get to the nearest Chinatown, stat!”
“Sometimes, I’m really glad to live in Japan….”
“This is the perfect opportunity to learn to cook for yourself.”

Agreed on that last thought! Studying abroad is not only a great way to see other countries, and see your own country from the outside, but also to learn how to be independent. If she wants to eat some delicious Japanese food, then it’s time to get cooking!

So fear not, little sister @0615Midori! Your older sister will come back a stronger, wiser woman… with possibly an occasional hankering for some fish and chips.

Do you have a food-related culture shock story of your own to share? I know that when I lived in Okinawa, pig-foot soup, bitter-gourd stir-fry, and most shocking of all, SPAM, had never been on my menu before, but it was kind of cool to actually taste another culture. Tell us your experiences in the comments section, and let us know if you came out of it alive!

Source: Twitter/0615Midori via Hamusoku
Featured/top image via QuotesGram
Insert images: Twitter/0615Midori

Origin: Japanese student reacts to UK food: “How did One Direction survive growing up in this country?”
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