on how to stay connected to culture while being away
It’s a lot easier than I thought. I feel like I’m really lucky that anywhere I travel I can find food that I’m missing. Japanese culture and food has been so internationalized so it has been easy for me. Other Asian cultures haven’t been as internationalized so it’s harder to find. I haven’t been able to stay connected to my Chinese culture as much.
I found stores to buy some cultural things to bring back home. They’re not things I would usually buy at home but seeing them in Europe was kind of special and a good way to remember my culture back at home. Even in Boston you don’t see Japanese stores like that. Whenever I travel and I find an Asian center or different Asian communities, it’s something that I naturally gravitate to.
on what carys misses most from home and Boston
In Boston, I met a bunch of Chinese students who make their own food so I’m definitely missing that. I live in a place where Asians are the majority so you definitely miss that sense of community and being around Asians. I’ve learned that to get the best food in European countries, go to ethnic places to eat (whether it be Asian or Latin-American and so on).
pockets of home
by carys hirawady
