I never thought ramen noodles could taste strange, but I have had bad experiences with food since I have been in Wales. Food will look normal and smell ok, but once you take a bit you will think you’ve never tasted anything so bland in your entire life. I find myself loading salt and pepper on everything just so I can taste something.

I am really picky about my food and any of my friends could probably list what I like to eat on one hand. At college my main staples are ramen noodles, mac ‘n’ cheese, wild rice and pasta. But I have expanded my horizons.

I pretty much have to, or I’ll starve. I even find myself eating the occasional fruit or vegetable. But I have to draw the line somewhere, and it starts with Marmite.

My flatmates absolutely love to spread this nasty smelling, lumpy yeast extract over toast for breakfast. I am convinced the invention of Marmite was an accident like the discovery of penicillin.

Someone must have left yeast out by accident and it fermented. They must have seriously been insane to bottle it for resale purposes.

Chicken or smoked bacon flavor crisps (potato chips) — I like cheese on chips and sour cream is decent, also. It blows my mind to think someone wants to taste poultry or ham on junk food. I have actually tasted these items, and I can safely say they will never pass my lips again.

Dandelion smash — Smash is concentrated juice in a bottle. You add water for it to taste normal. It’s actually a good idea. It’s a lot less messy than frozen concentrate.

I like apple and grape flavored smash, but I can do without smash that tastes like the yellow flowers in your lawn.

There area also foods that I detest. I don’t care how cultured they would make me.I ate at a side-street cafe with my sister in Paris. I don’t eat a lot of red meat over here, so I decided to order a steak a change. Some people like to have their steaks juicy, but I would rather eat a burnt steak than have to see red in the middle.

Well, they messed up my order and I ended up choking down a juicy, red steak. I thought it was bad until I looked over at the man sitting next to us. He was just being served his meal, and I couldn’t believe what he was about to eat. On the plate was a raw (I mean not even browned) hamburger patty. I wasn’t sure why there was an egg on top of the meat, but I soon figured it out. The man cracked the egg and dumped it on the raw meat.

Then he mashed the raw egg into the raw meat and proceeded to eat, stopping only to sip his wine. I cringed and nearly vomited.

I couldn’t move. My eyes were fixed on this man and his raw meal. He finished in a few minutes and left like that was his regular lunch. I am trying not to push food off too much here. I am sure there are American foods that seem ridiculous to other nationalities.

The whole appearance of a sloppy joe must look disgusting to someone who has never seen it. But the whole idea of tasting new foods is to find out if you like them or not, and I am trying. But I wouldn’t recommend any of the foods on my list.