As a former resident of Thailand, I know that food is highly important to the people there and a very diverse dish with lots of spice and ingredients means a lot to the average Thai person. This holds true with my conversation partner as well. After asking him where he has been getting his food and what he might need from the store he told me that the majority of his food and shopping has been done at Walmart or Publix. While I am not necessarily against either one of those places to shop, I certainly recognize that other options that might have a more unique selection exist… given that we are indeed in Tallahassee, I still felt the need to show him that the “little state capital that could” has a little bit of potential. So I took him from campus over to the Fresh Market to do some shopping. I have never seen someone look so excited and do so many laps around a grocery store. He went crazy. The amount of spices, the fresh fruits and veggies and the overall vibe of the place got to him. You could truly tell that I had cracked the code and he was very glad to be shopping at a store with his kind of fresh food expectations. By the end of our Fresh Market experience, he had collected a whole basket worth of food and a definite smile on his face. Success!
the Fresh Market is amazing--I go crazy there too!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to give him a grocery shopping experience that does not involve Wal-Mart or even "Club-Pub"--otherwise, he won't have an complete picture of what America is all about ;)
I am definitely doing this!