Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.
In this week's post, Trisha dishes what it's like to eat like a local in Shanghai and shares examples on how she stays open to new food.
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Eating in Shanghai has been the biggest no-holds-barred cultural experience (and shock) thus far, and without access to a kitchen in our residence (where we would otherwise be able to tap out and prepare a western meal on occasion), we all experienced a head-first dive into the intricacies of the local cuisine. The first culinary encounter I faced was the breakfast provided at our residence. Besides boiled eggs, all the foods were very heavy and what I would consider to be lunch or dinner meals. These were things like pan-fried noodles, fried rice and corn on the cob, giant steamed pork buns and many varieties of hot cabbage, hot cucumbers, and eggplant. It was a difficult adjustment to make from the light cereal and toast breakfasts with maybe a few sausage links or strips of bacon many of us are accustomed to having back home so early before work or class.
In fact, many of my peers resorted to strictly eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they provided us bread and condiments for. My coworker Billy and I eventually found ourselves migrating our breakfast routine to the fried pancake street food they serve at a cart outside our internship office. They crack an egg inside and wrap it up with either Chinese sausage (which is a bit sweet) or basted chicken. It’s still a bit heavy for breakfast, but at least it’s similar to foods we’d usually consider in the early morning!
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Danielle Thai is an official CAPA blogger for spring 2017, sharing 
