My life revolves around food

This statement is just nothing more then a confession. No, I do not yet need to enroll in an Overeaters Anonymous group therapy. 

In the office, I am always invited to eat mangoes and other seasonal fruits. Lunch is always a big deal and it has to be discussed in great detail. If you are invited by somebody at a restaurant or their house, regardless of the huge plate of rice, vegetable and meat you consume, you are bound to disappoint with how little you have eaten. In the afternoon, you swap stories about what you had for lunch and have another snack of two. Later on, you discuss what's going to be for dinner.

It took me a bit to realize that in this country any meal that doesn't include rice is considered a ‘snack’ - even if it looks like a standard meal itself in other countries. Every social event involves food in one capacity or another. If you go to someone’s house, you will always be fed. Even if you don't, the thick mixture of milk, sugar and tea leaves that is called 'cha' gives you the calorie-equivalent of a meal by itself.

The obsession with food extends beyond social settings to office life. I have realized that asking if someone has eaten is also a sign of politeness, as is piling someone else’s plate with food. Work is regularly interrupted by various seasonal snacks to share: huge, sticky jackfruit to plunge fingers into, plates of fresh mango or pineapple. And those questions of ‘have you eaten?’ in the post-lunchtime continue, with more detailed discussions of exactly how many ‘items’ we have all taken on that particular day.

I have Bangladeshi friends posting awesome pictures of the food they had for dinner on their Facebook pages. New restaurants that are just opening up are discussed at length along with menus and buffet prices.

Social life, work life, weekend life. It's true: my Bangladeshi life revolves around food.