I am a native of Bangladesh-a country in Southeast Asia,next to India.I came to Winona State University(USA)in the fall of 1986 and transferred to St.Cloud in 1989.During my first semester in Winona,I had a roommate named Mike.The day after I arrived,he asked me if I wanted a pop. Back home we refer to carbonated drinks as cold drinks. So, when he asked me to have a pop,I thought he was referring to popcorn. I said,very politely,"No,thank you.I am not hungry." He had a puzzled look on his face, one that I did not figure out for at least a week or so until somebody pointed out to me that pop meant soda and had nothing to do with corn.     Speaking of pop,my very first night at Winona State University,Bangladeshi students took me to a restaurant named Papa John's. I ordered my meal and finally asked for a Pepsi.The waitress handed me an aluminum can. Now,back home we have only bottled pop drinks,and the only time I was exposed to a can was on an airplane. However,those cans were a bit different because one could open it by pulling on the tab,which came off.Imagine my embarrassment as I tried to use the same technique at the restaurant.Obviously,the tab would not come off when I struggled with the can,and I spilled the pop all over the table. My fellow Bangladeshi students and a few others at the nearby tables got a good laugh out of this.Finally,one of them showed me how to use that device.    Bangladeshi cuisine is definitely spicier and usually hotter than Midwestern food.I conveyed this to my American friends whenever we talked about cuisine.Well,last fall,I was down in Orono,Minnesota,at my friend Steve Haack's house.He had told his mother all these horror stories about how I loved "hot" food.So,when it was time for Sunday brunch,I found out how Steve's mother had decided to whet  my appetite.She baked some spicy enchiladas ,and she had used one full 16-ounce can of jalapeno peppers. Talking about hot--this thing was a burning.As I was swallowing platefuls of it in front of them,the Haack family were busy pouring milk,juice,or cold water down their throats to cool off the burning,Steve's dad said,"After this,I am going to need a big cork to plug the hole in my stomach."So saying,he went for a second helping.     We do not have any snow in Bangladesh,so my first encounter with snow was during the end of the year in 1986 in Winona.I came out of my dorm one morning,and it was snowing! It seemed like a shower of little white feathers.I tried to catch them,but they would melt away almost instantly--so light, so soft,and so white. I walked around the campus and it was hardly cold. Everything seemed quieter and softer. If I should ever go to heaven and have a chance to have a window with a view, this would probably be one of the scenes I would like to see.     For the past five years,Minnesota has been my home away from home.During this time I have had my share of laughs and tears,achievements and disappointments. But looking back on all these years,I can say today that if I had to do it all over again,I wouldn't change a thing. When Mike asked the author if he wanted a pop,Mike meant to_.
offer some drinks to the author offer some popcorn to the author introduce pop music to the author make fun of the author's English