Having lived as a student in France for over a month now I am still confused as to what students in halls of residence actually eat?
My kitchen here consists of just a double sink and a pair of electric hobs (One of which doesn't actually work!). As far as I can work out this is meant to service a whole floor which has to be well over 50 students!
Before I arrived, some UEA students who lived in this very building two years ago prepared me for how bad the kitchens would be and that they never really cooked at all. In France the "CROUS" who run student residences also run university residences called Resto-U. The food at these restos is actually quite nice for institution food, for 3 Euros you can get the following:
A starter which is a kind of salad often there are at least 3 to choose from. The main course there are normally two on offer, chicken/fish type deal although I have eaten my favourite Merguez about 5 times since being here which I won’t complain about. These mains come with two different veggies often haricots verts. You can then choose two cold dishes from a selection of yogurts, fruits and compotes, and finally there is the cheese and bread...pretty self explanatory. This food is good food (there are of course occasional bad days it is all about preference) and for 3 Euros one often goes home a full tummy with a yogurt and bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. However there is a flaw in the Resto U. I am fortunate enough to have one on site which is just a short walk from my room, however being so close to the university it is only open presumably through lack of demand on the weekend, Monday-Thursday night and Monday-Friday lunch time which which leaves 5 whole meal times for us to fend for ourselves, and of course in the middle of all these strikes it is often not open when it should be anyway!
On these nights off your choice is limited to queuing for the one working hob in the massive empty room that is the kitchen. I assume many students have microwaves but at 50 Euros they are not a decision to be taken lightly on a student budget and even then you might not actually have a fridge. There are three buildings here, A, B and C. The rooms in building B are the most basic and there are no fridges, so this is where you encounter a problem. You live a good 20 minutes from the nearest supermarket, you have no fridge and only two hobs WHAT DO YOU COOK?
As food and anything to do with food are my main passions in life, and making a meal out of nothing my main skill (inherited from my mother) I am slowly adjusting to making salads in my room and quickly heating up soup when the kitchen is free but I only have to live here for under a year. For many French students this will be their home for the next 3 years, and yes it is true that many students in France go to Uni near to home and as is evident by the mass exodus on a Friday, many go home for the weekend but I do know students who live a long way away or are doing a 3 year course but live in China. I can’t help but feel a little bit guilty and very spoiled coming from a country where university kitchens are catered for the number of people sharing, have a microwave and kettle and grill and oven (Not at UEA admittedly, it was a combi microwave and oven). Kitchens at home have a dining space where you meet people or share a meal having just cooked it together. Maybe it is the slight homesickness induced by watching endless episodes of Nigella programmes online but I am just curious as to whether the students here are happy queuing for the use of the kitchen and then scuttling away to eat in their rooms and if maybe in a country where food is so important they could take a leaf out of the UK's book and help make a university residence a home from home, after all as any student will know, it is home cooking you most the most when away at university.
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