The New FOB On the Block

I'm what my friends like to call, a fob. That stands for “fresh off the boat.” This term usually refers to those who are foreign to a country and in my case, I'm a foreigner living and studying in the United States.

Although my nationality is Korean, I have lived in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan respectively. Having lived my whole life in Asian countries, I have recently moved to the States to attend Penn State University and not too long ago, my parents moved to Whippany, New Jersey.

So it makes sense that I'm a fob, right? I know my friends think so. The friends that I've made in the States frequently say, “You're such a Korean,” to almost everything that I say and do.

I have seaweed snacks I brought from Japan and they say, “You're such a Korean.” I buy a rice cooker and they call me a fob. I complain the taste of the sushi and soy sauce sold at the HUB and they look at me in awe.

What would be normal at home is considered strange in the dorms. All my friends who have never visited any Asian countries have no idea how life is like there. There are many differences such as culture, cuisine and social norms but there are a lot of similarities too- my friends are not well aware of that though...not just yet.

The other day, I was craving food from home. The tuna melt sandwiches and buffalo chicken pizzas were becoming dull and monotonous. As a solution, I decided to have cooked rice with my furikake (seaweed seasoning) as my dinner. As always, my friends were eager to try it.

“Ughhhhhhhhh, WHAT are you eating?” was their reaction. Clearly, they didn't like it. But I'm not going to give up. I will find something that we have in common and let them know that I'm not such a fob and foreigner after all. Well, maybe just a little.