We all have those days. Your midterm didn’t go as well as you expected. Your crush is interested in someone else. You slept through your class one too many times and just saw your grade drop a full letter.

When you have a bad day, all you really want to do is curl up in your bed at parent’s house. When you are a college student far from home, it can be more difficult. But everyone has a gastronomic equivalent to a favorite sweater, a nice pep talk from your mom or dad, a kiss on the forehead. It’s your comfort food. Maybe it’s Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, spaghetti or chicken noodle soup.

For international University of Oregon student, though, it’s a little more difficult to find these comfort foods.

According to a yearly survey done by UO Admissions, about 3,000 students are from another country — totaling 94 countries. Many of these students are here for four years working towards an undergraduate degree, only returning to their home country once a year or less.  

In a city as white as Eugene, authentic Chinese, Persian, African or South American cuisines (or even ingredients) are hard to come by. But students are finding a way to combat homesickness by cooking at home. For these three students, food is a way to remember their roots.

Behnaz Asadpour — Iran

In a period of youthful defiance, Behnaz Asadpour moved to Oregon from Khozestan, a western providence of Iran, to study business. Asadpour gets the chance to connect with other Persian international students by working in the Mills International Center.

Persian culture in Iran is focused on family and respect, with short work days, long lunches and meals surrounded by an extensive family. Hospitality is a several hours long event putting American Thanksgiving to shame. But the concept of a potlock — seemingly commonplace in an American setting — came as a bizarre culture shock.

“My first American party I went to, they asked me to bring something. I was so confused,” Asadpour said. “(In Iran) if they ask you to bring food, it’s very insulting. But I thought it was kind of cool … so I started it in the Persian community here.”

Just like Asadpour, many Persian students found the idea rude, but warmed up to the opportunity because of the chance to eat some authentic dishes, play cards and speak Farsi — something Asadpour admits she misses the most. Besides, the American potluck saved a bit of cash. Extravagant Persian parties are expected to be completely catered by the host, can cost up to $300 and take two days to prepare.

“When we go to other parts of the world, we say, ‘What the hell is wrong with these people? Why do they do this?’” Asadpour said. ”Here it is much more about taking care of yourself and then helping others.”

Asadpour’s comfort food is a Persian herb stew called ghormeh sabzi that differs slightly depending on what region of Iran you’re eating it in. If made the traditional way, it can take up to six hours to prepare.

“Spending the time to cook every night is very hard. Even though I really like Persian food, I don’t prepare it often because I work and go to school,” she said. In rural Iran, work days are only four or five hours long, leaving plenty of time to cook.

Surprisingly, Asadpour names Caspian as a good location for a tasty and accurate Persian meal, especially the kebab.

Yawei Zhang — China

The Chinese community at UO is one of the biggest — with around 2,000 students. Unlike the Persian student population, Chinese students are much more represented in restaurants and markets around Eugene (though the authenticity is questionable). Yawei Zhang, president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, takes advantage of this larger community by hosting loosely competitive potlucks with friends. Zhang is a senior in product design from Xin Xiang in the central providence Henan. 

“(The potlucks) are fun, you can taste everything each person made,” Zhang said. “It doesn’t take a lot of time but you can eat a lot of food … but if they don’t want to cook, I just cook for everyone. We share everything … It makes everyone friendly. It’s a family environment.”

Zhang’s potluck specialty is Coca-Cola chicken wings, which is surprisingly native to China considering its very American ingredient. However, one of his favorite foods from home are dumplings, abundantly made during Chinese New Year.

Zhang visits home only once a year (if not every two years) because the Chinese academic breaks are scheduled differently. For most Chinese students, UO breaks are spent stuck in their Eugene apartments, waiting for school to begin again.

“We’re trying to learn American culture here so we said, ‘Why don’t we do the Christmas thing?’” Zhang said. “My friends and I come together and we go to a cabin on the McKenzie river, about twenty of us. We tried to cook a turkey even though we didn’t know how.”

Zhang would rather cook Chinese food from home using ingredients from the Asian markets, though he says there is a new cook from China at East Meets West — so he expects the food to change in a positive way. Most Chinese food in Eugene, he claims, is very Americanized.

Nhi Dao — Vietnam

Though it’s traditional for mothers to teach everything they know about cooking to their daughters, economics graduate Nhi Dao wasn’t taught much before moving to America. It’s been two years since she moved into her own kitchen and Dao still feels like she hasn’t gotten the unique flavors of Vietnam figured out.

Dao grew up in the central part of Vietnam in a city about the size of  Washington, D.C. called Da Nang. Though the Vietnamese population at UO is much smaller than some international groups on campus (a mere 30 people), there’s always a good group of people for a dinner party.

“In Vietnamese culture, whenever friends gather there must be food. Food is a connector among everyone. Everyone eats, talks, shares their stories. It’s very communal, a family environment,” Dao said.

However, learning to cook Vietnamese has been a challenge for Dao. Eugene has a fair amount of Asian markets with the necessary ingredients, but she hasn’t learned the necessary skills. Often she’ll call home to Vietnam for help.

“I’m truly not at the level to satisfy my need for true Vietnamese food sometimes. When I do cook, it’s never where I want it or expect it to be to satisfy my need,” Dao said.

For a quick Vietnamese treatment, Dao heads to Noodle Head for a bowl of pho, a Vietnamese classic soup. Their pho, according to her, is “pretty decent.” Her other favorite from home is a French-Vietnamese dish, banh mi, a sandwich that is made often by parents for their children. Dao claims that the Eugene restaurant Mame has a fairly good banh mi. 

The desire for those familiar foods is a comfort that doesn’t know borders, though the flavors may be a little different. There’s an innate craving for all things homey and delicious, especially when living as far away from home as some students do. Though it’s a bit more difficult to find these flavors in little Eugene, there will always be a community willing to open their homes and kitchens for these international students.