Last week I embarked on one of the greatest adventures of my life so far. For the readers’ sake, I guess one could say that it’s rather comparable to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, except for that 2-pound bag of drugs; instead, it was about 7 pounds. In fact, this was so crazy and twisted that it made even the worst LSD addicts cringe at the very words coming from my mouth. I would even say that it reminds me of the one of those creepy horror movies with the child-loving serial killer, or perhaps a visit to the Neverland Ranch. OK, it wasn’t anything that bad; in fact, I would consider it to be rather culturally expanding. I spent this last Sunday hanging out with my good neighbors in the dorm: the friendly international students. Now, given my situation and these circumstances, this proved to be quite a leap from my usually confinements of American culture. Before coming to Andover, I could hardly recognize different cultures, and often made huge generalizations about different countries. So it begins with me sitting in my room… alone and with very little to do. I walk next door and find Chris, from South Korea. “Want to order some Chinese Food?” I ask. “You’re so completely hopeless, will you please just… look at a map?” Chris harshly replies with his head motioning a consistent shake of the head. “Well, ok then, I’ll ask your roommate,” I respond while walking into his roommate’s area. I looked over and find his Turkish friend blasting some techno music, dancing rather unclothed and well…. I grab hold of his speaker system and give it a gentle tug to end the stream of constant thudding. “Yo! You up for any Turkey Sandwiches or something?” I inquire. “Dude, just because the name of my country is a popular food in America doesn’t mean that we eat it in Turkey,” he answers, with a great deal of effort used towards correcting my apparently incorrect knowledge of the Middle East. “In fact, I would not like a Turkey Sandwich… but thanks for asking.” I turn around to Chris and demand, “How about some kung-fu movies, or like some Jackie Chan flicks, have you heard of that new film that has…” “If you want to watch a movie, I would be up for maybe something like a comedy. I really don’t have much preference,” Chris replies, while hardly even lifting his head from the desk. “Well, then, how about something to eat.” “Just popcorn this time, Matt, please,” Chris supplies as an instant response. “Do you want to like sit Indian-style on the floor when we watch this movie? Or perhaps we can get a Futon… where does that come from again?” And we manage to make it most of the way through a showing of a great, stylish, not kung-fu movie but still just a good Hollywood-made classic. Unfortunately, what I would call “cultural suggestions” were not taken rather well, and had me sent back to my room rather immediately. But I honestly have no regrets about this adventure, because I have gained great insight into many different cultures that make up this great student body. I have learned that Turkish people don’t really eat Turkey, and that most people in Hungary probably eat rather well.
