Born and raised in the coal region - I was exposed to all kinds of foods when I was young. Half Lithuanian, a quarter French-speaking Belgian, a quarter English/Canadian (from what I've been told - there are likely other percentages in there). Worked in a hoagie/cheesesteak shop as a teen. Italian, Irish, English, Eastern European, PA Dutch, I've probably eaten it. We had a complement of many ethnicities in my area.
I didn't have Chinese food until I visited relatives near Philly when I was around 10 years old, we didn't have any Chinese restaurants in my area. I'd eaten tacos at home as a kid, but we didn't have a Mexican restaurant in town until I was in my teens. I didn't eat Chinese food again for nearly another decade until I was in the Army. Some buddies and I went to a place just outside of Ft. Campbell, and I asked one of them, "I don't know, what's good?" Beef Lo Mein - which is still one of my go-to Chinese dishes to this day, lol. I wish I was 18 again though!