First, I'll explain who I am. I'm Nicholas Sugiarto, a '23 (freshman) from San Diego, California. Second, a quick disclaimer. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Prior to Dartmouth, I've never hiked, skied, or seen snow. So yeah, you could say that Dartmouth is quite a bit different from what I'm used to. You'll probably find me on campus stuffing myself at FOCO (the '53 Commons/Dartmouth's all-you-can-eat buffet) or exploring the Stacks at Baker-Berry (the main library).
Admittedly, coming into Dartmouth, one of my greatest worries would be that I would miss a lot of the stuff from home — specifically, the food. Coming from California, I was used to being able to eat a variety of Asian food: ramen, boba, curry. But, given the fact that Hanover is in New Hampshire and not California, I wasn't expecting much good Asian food.
Matcha tea from San Diego. I miss it already.
And Indonesian food? Not a chance. Even in San Diego, the only place I could get that was in my own house. In my mind, there was absolutely no way I would find any of it in Hanover.
Unfortunately, I was right. There is no Indonesian food in Hanover. But, on the bright side, I was also pleasantly wrong.
For one, FOCO, which is Dartmouth's all-you-can-eat buffet, serves sushi every Saturday. And, since it's all you can eat, let's just say that my friends and I have already eaten an embarrassingly large amount of it. Like, bordering a dozen plates.
Singaporean Street Noodles at FOCO.
There's more, too. FOCO also rotates in a variety of other Asian dishes, like Vietnamese Banh Mi, or Singaporean Street Noodles. I ate them back home, so finding out that Dartmouth has them was a nice touch. But what really surprised me was their "hot sauce."
Indonesian people love spicy food, so naturally I grew up eating a lot of it. There's just something beautiful about the masochism involved in eating something so spicy that your nose runs and your eyes cry.
So understandably, I was a bit disappointed when I found out that I couldn't get that here. That is, until I went to Collis.
For the uninitiated, Collis mostly serves stir fry. Once they cook your food, you have a choice of a few sauces. Hoping to rekindle the magic from back home, I opted for the "hot" sauce. Initially, I thought I recognized the fire-alarm-red color and rounded chili seeds, but I thought nothing of it. It wasn't until I tasted that familiar heavy-on-your-tongue kind of spice that I knew.
"Is this? No. This can't be… no way…"
The inspiration from this post came after watching The Farewell, which featured Chinese food prominently throughout the film. I watched it in one of Dartmouth's screening rooms. Highly recommend it!
It was. More specifically, it was Indonesian sambal (aka Indonesian hot sauce aka the single most important thing to me and my life.) Needless to say, that won't be the only time I go to Collis.
I've talked a lot about Asian food at Dartmouth, and I know what you're thinking. Is it authentic?
No.
It's not authentic. Not by a long shot. There's no way around it. I'm sorry, Dartmouth, but it tastes very much like an Americanized version of Asian food. Still, that's not the important part. It's just a nice gesture that they try to add a little bit of diversity to their food. As I adjust to my new life here, it's nice that there's something that even resembles what I had back home. My tongue and I are both thankful.
Coming from a boarding school, I didn't get to work during the weekends. Coming into Dartmouth, I was excited at the prospect of being able to finally get into the workforce. There are many reasons why you would want to work.
My faith is a very important part of my identity. Starting in the fall, I decided to join two Christian groups: Christian Union and Apologia, the Christian thought magazine on campus.
Long time no see, Hanover. How long has it been? Six months and three days? Not that I've been counting, of course. Oh, who am I kidding? I couldn't wait to see you again! How have you been?
The reason I tell this story is to pretty much show that Dartmouth is somewhat of a "nerd sanctuary" — a place where people can do whatever and explore whatever passion they want.
My friends and I had a board games brunch at the dining hall, with many of the games rented from Jones Media Center. It was a highlight of the term — when else can you play Cards Against Humanity with nine friends while enjoying brunch?
With the decade (and year) coming to an end, I thought I would do something fun and look back on everything that has happened this year for me at Dartmouth!
Sometimes I crave homemade Chinese food, which was part of my daily life for 18 years. Luckily, the Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society and the Office of Pluralism and Leadership Asian American Mentoring Program organized a dumpling making event!
This is a post for my blog but also a letter to my future self so that I can remember the strategies I used to make my first term at Dartmouth a successful one.
What happens when you don't want more coffee and you're too far away from your bed? Here is a list of my favorite places on campus to take a quick nap.
There's more, too. FOCO also rotates in a variety of other Asian dishes, like Vietnamese Banh Mi, or Singaporean Street Noodles. I ate them back home, so finding out that Dartmouth has them was a nice touch. But what really surprised me was their "hot sauce."
It was. More specifically, it was Indonesian sambal (aka Indonesian hot sauce aka the single most important thing to me and my life.) Needless to say, that won't be the only time I go to Collis.
