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My Turn
by

Wayne Chan

From The Asian Reporter, V35, #1 (January 6, 2025), page 6.

The true meaning of "It’s All Greek to Me"

We recently arrived back from Greece. We had an amazing time.

And yet …

Returning home after being in a foreign country gave me a different perspective about a very unique place. I’m talking about the U.S. It makes me appreciate how lucky we are to live here.

There’s a myriad of reasons why I appreciate living in America, but let’s just start with the food. While Chinese food is my favorite cuisine, that doesn’t mean I would naturally be drawn to living in China or Hong Kong, which I readily admit, has some amazing Chinese food.

There’s no greater way to explain my perspective on this than a story about our recent trip to Greece.

I love Greek food. Study after study shows that people who follow a Mediterranean diet often have better health and longevity. I love pita bread, gyros, spanakopita, and moussaka. The first few days of our visit to Greece were amazing in terms of food. Emphasis on "the first few days."

Around the fifth or sixth day, I started hankering for something different. That’s when it became a bit of a challenge. We were walking along a beautiful, bustling street on the Greek isle of Crete searching for a place for dinner.

The first restaurant we passed had a sign that said, "Authentic Greek Food." We keep walking.

The next place — "Serving Greek Specialties." A few steps further — "Serving Greek Cuisine!" In the end, we ended up having … Greek food.

By the time we reached Athens, things were getting a bit desperate. Now, it’s not as extreme as I make it out to be. On occasion, I saw a place selling burgers and fries. And there’s nothing wrong with having a nice juicy burger and fries every once in a while. But honestly, I don’t eat burgers and fries all that often when I’m in the U.S., so we had gyros and a Greek salad one more time.

By the last day of our visit in Athens, I’d literally had it with Greek food. I’d put up with enough pita. I was weary of gyros. I was petering out of spanakopita and mustered out of moussaka.

That’s when I realized the difference.

How often, when walking down a main street in any reasonably sized U.S. city, are there tons of signs with "Real American Food" or "Authentic American Cuisine" everywhere? Actually, it’s much more likely one would discover a Mexican place next to a seafood place, next to a Chinese place, next to a sushi bar. And yes — a Greek restaurant and a burger place, too.

So, as our weary legs walked from restaurant to restaurant in search of something — anything — different, I hope readers appreciate the utter joy and relief we felt when we saw a restaurant with Chinese characters on it. It was a hot pot restaurant. It was like manna from heaven.

Returning home and seeing all the diverse restaurants to choose from, in my opinion, is American food, or at least what it means to me.

I’m home.

Humor writer Wayne Chan lives in the San Diego area;

cartoonist Wayne Chan is based in the Bay Area.

Humor writer Wayne Chan lives in the San Diego area;

cartoonist Wayne Chan is based in the Bay Area.

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Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of this publication.

My Turn by

Wayne Chan

My Turn
by