A Forgotten Group?
When it comes to such an issue like international students’ dining patterns in OU, it’s reasonable to give ear to voices from a few concerned parties.
“We don’t cater to a specific group of people, though we do have diversified meal plans,” said Rich Neumann, director of OU’s Dining Services Department , a division of the university’s Housing and Food Services. According to the profile on its website, the department is responsible for the operation of all food services on the Athens campus while overseeing all campus vending contracts and the purchase of all food products. The campus Dining Halls under its administration serve approximately 3,000,000 meals every year.
“We actively solicit feedback from students about the menu preferences through the Dining Services Development Committee (DSDC) and through annual student surveys,” said Gail Washington, assistant director of Dining Services in charge of menu planning. The DSDC she referred to is an organization made up of various members of the Dining Services staff as well as several students which is expected to act as a bridge between students and university authorities by providing a channel for exchanging ideas between both parties.
According to Washington, currently there are 8,000 OU students who order a meal plan offered by varied dining halls under Dining Services. An October university-wide survey, covering about 1,800 OU students, reveals that nearly 79 percent of all the students surveyed were satisfied with Dining Services.
Admitting that there is no way to find out how many international students are on a meal plan, Washington stressed that Dining Services is doing its best to meet the needs of the majority of students. “We formulate our recipes to meet the tastes of the majority,” she said, adding that every Dining Hall has a spice bar so students can season their food their own tastes.
“They (Dining Services) definitely are trying the best they can,” said DSDC Chair Kevin Yurasek, an OU student. “It’s always like a leveling battle between the needs of most people and those of a small group,”
Yurasek, however, admitted that it’s a “shortcoming” of Dining Services for more or less providing dishes with Americanized instead of authentic foreign flavors as some international students have even complained about it. “The number of 1,000 (international students) is a lot, yet it’s not a lot at the same time,” he said. “It’s after all a business.”
In the eyes of Kibin Park, owner and chef of the uptown Japanese cuisine restaurant Happy Kobe, Japanese students at OU don’t necessarily contribute a substantial part to the business of his restaurant, which serves sushi as its major attraction. “Japanese students don’t come quite a lot; they would come on special days like their birthdays or they feel really homesick,” he said.
“Even in Japan, the young generation now don’t go to sushi restaurants because it’s quite expensive; they would rather go to French or Italian eateries if they want a nice dining atmosphere,” said Park, adding that sushi restaurants in Japan are basically for seniors or business meetings.
Operating Happy Kobe in Athens for over four years, Park said that 60 percent of his customers are faculty members and the rest are mostly dating people. Occasionally the restaurant is patronized by international students, mostly for celebrating some special occasions.
“Every customer to me is the same important; it doesn’t matter how many of them come,” he stressed.
Park’s view is shared by Amar Jit, owner of the Indian restaurant Star of India which started operation here in 2002.
“We have a mixed customer makeup: 20 percent are Indians and the rest are from varied countries,” he said. “For me, business is business.”
“Every customer should be treated equally.”
Food coordinator Thom Hirbe at Casa Nueva, an uptown Mexican restaurant, however, holds a high appraisal of contributions from international students to the eatery’s business. “I should say, without international students, our business would be entirely different,” said Hirbe. “It wouldn’t be as progressive as it is now.” Starting to operate in Athens about two decades ago, Casa Nueva has expanded from the original one-room eatery to a four-room dining/bar complex with several sister operations over the time. It now features an International Conversation Night on Tuesdays and International Dance Night on weekend nights.
“International students help drive us to keep trying new things and keep diversifying in our offerings,” he said.
Yet Lam K. Wong, owner of Peking Express, which offers Chinese fast food, thinks somewhat differently.
“To tell the truth, international students only account for roughly about 10 percent of my business,” said Wong.
“According to my experience, if you stick to the genuine Chinese flavor, the dishes you serve won’t sell. That’s why I have to change the flavor to suit American students’ tastes for after all their business is much bigger than that of international students,” he said. “I have to follow what the market expects at large.”
When it comes to such an issue like international students’ dining patterns in OU, it’s reasonable to give ear to voices from a few concerned parties.
“We don’t cater to a specific group of people, though we do have diversified meal plans,” said Rich Neumann, director of OU’s Dining Services Department , a division of the university’s Housing and Food Services. According to the profile on its website, the department is responsible for the operation of all food services on the Athens campus while overseeing all campus vending contracts and the purchase of all food products. The campus Dining Halls under its administration serve approximately 3,000,000 meals every year.
“We actively solicit feedback from students about the menu preferences through the Dining Services Development Committee (DSDC) and through annual student surveys,” said Gail Washington, assistant director of Dining Services in charge of menu planning. The DSDC she referred to is an organization made up of various members of the Dining Services staff as well as several students which is expected to act as a bridge between students and university authorities by providing a channel for exchanging ideas between both parties.
According to Washington, currently there are 8,000 OU students who order a meal plan offered by varied dining halls under Dining Services. An October university-wide survey, covering about 1,800 OU students, reveals that nearly 79 percent of all the students surveyed were satisfied with Dining Services.
Admitting that there is no way to find out how many international students are on a meal plan, Washington stressed that Dining Services is doing its best to meet the needs of the majority of students. “We formulate our recipes to meet the tastes of the majority,” she said, adding that every Dining Hall has a spice bar so students can season their food their own tastes.
“They (Dining Services) definitely are trying the best they can,” said DSDC Chair Kevin Yurasek, an OU student. “It’s always like a leveling battle between the needs of most people and those of a small group,”
Yurasek, however, admitted that it’s a “shortcoming” of Dining Services for more or less providing dishes with Americanized instead of authentic foreign flavors as some international students have even complained about it. “The number of 1,000 (international students) is a lot, yet it’s not a lot at the same time,” he said. “It’s after all a business.”
In the eyes of Kibin Park, owner and chef of the uptown Japanese cuisine restaurant Happy Kobe, Japanese students at OU don’t necessarily contribute a substantial part to the business of his restaurant, which serves sushi as its major attraction. “Japanese students don’t come quite a lot; they would come on special days like their birthdays or they feel really homesick,” he said.
“Even in Japan, the young generation now don’t go to sushi restaurants because it’s quite expensive; they would rather go to French or Italian eateries if they want a nice dining atmosphere,” said Park, adding that sushi restaurants in Japan are basically for seniors or business meetings.
Operating Happy Kobe in Athens for over four years, Park said that 60 percent of his customers are faculty members and the rest are mostly dating people. Occasionally the restaurant is patronized by international students, mostly for celebrating some special occasions.
“Every customer to me is the same important; it doesn’t matter how many of them come,” he stressed.
Park’s view is shared by Amar Jit, owner of the Indian restaurant Star of India which started operation here in 2002.
“We have a mixed customer makeup: 20 percent are Indians and the rest are from varied countries,” he said. “For me, business is business.”
“Every customer should be treated equally.”
Food coordinator Thom Hirbe at Casa Nueva, an uptown Mexican restaurant, however, holds a high appraisal of contributions from international students to the eatery’s business. “I should say, without international students, our business would be entirely different,” said Hirbe. “It wouldn’t be as progressive as it is now.” Starting to operate in Athens about two decades ago, Casa Nueva has expanded from the original one-room eatery to a four-room dining/bar complex with several sister operations over the time. It now features an International Conversation Night on Tuesdays and International Dance Night on weekend nights.
“International students help drive us to keep trying new things and keep diversifying in our offerings,” he said.
Yet Lam K. Wong, owner of Peking Express, which offers Chinese fast food, thinks somewhat differently.
“To tell the truth, international students only account for roughly about 10 percent of my business,” said Wong.
“According to my experience, if you stick to the genuine Chinese flavor, the dishes you serve won’t sell. That’s why I have to change the flavor to suit American students’ tastes for after all their business is much bigger than that of international students,” he said. “I have to follow what the market expects at large.”
posted by Leon @ 5:01 AM
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