Eating At School Abroad!
Lesson
Summary:
Meal Plans
Cook Yourself
Dietary Restrictions
Miss Home Food?
Eat Internationally
Confident Cooking
Smart Shopping
Eat Health
There are many aspects to studyin abroad. One of
the things that you may want to think about is
*food. People like food because
it's tasty, and also because if you don't eat you can develop
some serious health problems. It's important to try and eat
healthy while you're studying. Many foreign students face
problems like dietary restrictions (such as being vegetarian) and
are worried of not being able to find the food they know and love
from home. Here are some study-abroad tips involving
food!
Meal Plans- the School
Solution
Universities and colleges always
have food facilities. Smaller schools may only have a small cafe
where you can grab a small lunch, but larger schools have
multiple cafeterias, food halls, and food stands. A lot of
schools these days offer meal plans, which are a
great option for students, especially undergraduates. If you
don't have time for cooking (or you're lazy and a bad cook), you
just buy a meal plan, and you can eat in school cafeterias.
Sometimes, if you live on campus, a meal plan may be
mandatory.
Advantages: Meal plans tend to offer
felxibility, and you can buy lots of different foods. It saves
you from cooking and usually it's more economical than just
buying food with cash. Also, eating with friends in a cafeteria
is a much more social setting than eating alone at an
apartment.
Disadvantages: Meal Plans can't be used
off-campus in most cases, which is somewhat restricting. You can
get tired of eating cafeteria food all the time, and not being
able to cook your own favourites yourself. Cafeterias are also
closed on holidays and vacations, which can pose a problem for
foreign students who can't fly home for a break.
Cook It Yourself!
If you're living off campus, you
may not have access to cooking facilities. In that case, you
pretty much have to get a meal plan or buy food every day.
However, some schools have residence options with a small shared
kitchen. If you're living off campus, you're likely to have full
access to a kitchen and cooking utilities. In those cases, you
can cook your own food.
Advantages: You can cook whatever you like and
want. You're able to make sure of the ingredients and everything.
Cooking for yourself also tends to result in healthier food.
Disadvantages: It takes time to buy all the
ingredients, cook, etc. You might not have lots of time as a
students, especially during exam time. Also, if you're a bad
cook, you can have some trouble.
Dietary Restrictions
Are you
vegetarian? Don't worry, it's really easy to
find food that fits your needs when you study abroad. The US,
Canada, and the UK are all very multicultural, and have
restaurants and food stores featuring foods from all over the
world. That means that whether you don't eat meat, you keep
hallal or kosher, or you have food allergies, you'll still be
able to eat well while you study abroad.
There are in fact many people who are vegetarian on campuses
these days. Food with tofu and soya can be found in markets and
cafeterias all over the campus area. Salads, fruits and
vegetables are very popular. If you have a meal plan, you're sure
to find tasty vegetarian alternatives in cafeterias. If you're
cooking yourself, it's even easier- you can make your favourite
vegetarian dishes on your own.
Miss Home Food?
There's no shame in missing home,
and there's no shame in missing the food your parents cook for
you at home. But luckily, you'll be able to find
traditional authentic dishes from your home
country abroad too!
There are lots of Indian and South Asian restaurants in all major
cities across the UK, the US and Canada. You can get some real
food just like home! And if you cook yourself, most large grocery
stores have sections for international foods, so you can get all
the ingredients you need to cook a great dish with a secret
family recipe. That's great!
Eat Internationally
A great advantage of studying
abroad is the chance to experience new cultures, and new
foods! You'll be able to discover real British food
(it's not just fish and chips) and American cuisine (there's a
lot more than a burger and fries).
And there's so much more! You can experience French, Italian,
Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Greek, and
many other varieties of meals. Cafeterias on campus often feature
special "internationally-inspired" meals, and off campus you'll
find a lot of great restaurants specializing in different types
of food. It's quite an experience for your taste buds!
Confident cooking
Cooking may sound daunting but it's
a doddle, really. If you can write an essay or pass your
A-levels, you can follow a recipe. You can cook a simple pasta
sauce, for example, with a tablespoon of oil, a clove of garlic
and a tin of tomatoes for less than half the price of the pasta
sauces sold in jars - and it'll taste much better. It couldn't be
easier - or quicker - to rustle up a plate of scrambled eggs or
to make a spaghetti carbonara (pasta with egg and bacon sauce).
It takes minutes to wash and dry a lettuce and make a simple
dressing that will cost you a fraction of the price of a pack of
salad leaves.
If you have an oven you can even make a slap-up Sunday lunch.
Simply buy a tray of chicken legs and thighs and roast them in a
big tin with a little oil and garlic, turning them occasionally
and chucking in a few sausages halfway through. You don't even
have to carve. Make a simple gravy by dissolving a bouillon cube
in a mug-ful of boiling water. Melt a tablespoon (15g) of butter,
stir in a tablespoon of plain flour and stir in your stock, bring
it to the boil and there you have it. Sounds weird but it
works.
Smart Shopping for Food
An important part of eating well is
shopping well. Supermarkets are convenient for staples such as
tinned tuna, pasta and rice but it can be cheaper to shop for
other ingredients, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, elsewhere.
If you live in a town that has a street market or if your digs
are near a row of small independent shops you may well find it's
cheaper to buy from them, particularly if you're living in a
student house and cooking for a crowd. Fresh herbs and spices are
about a third of the price you'll pay in a supermarket.
Even in the supermarket you can save a lot of money by buying
ingredients loose rather than pre-packed. A couple of carrots,
for example, will cost you considerably less than a pre-packed
bag will cost. A pack of grated cheese is obviously much more
expensive than a block of cheese you grate yourself.
You'll also save money by pooling your resources. If four
roommates contribute to a food fund you'll have a week's food
budget that will rival that of most non-student households. Or if
ten of you pitch in for a slap-up Saturday night feast you'll be
able to afford a meal that's infinitely better than anything you
would get for that amount in a restaurant. It's also more fun to
cook together - if you share the preparation (and clearing up!)
it never seems as stressful.
Eat Healthy- Five a day
Getting the recommended five fresh
fruit and vegetables a day might seem like an insuperable hurdle
but if you try to incorporate some in each meal it's not that
hard. A glass of orange juice for breakfast, a salad at
lunchtime, an apple or banana as a snack during the day and a
portion of frozen peas with your dinner and you're almost there
(frozen vegetables are just as healthy as fresh ones).
Stir fries are also a really tasty way of upping your intake. You
don't need prepared stir-fry sauces either - just shake over some
light soy sauce (which you'll find is cheaper in small ethnic
grocers and Chinese supermarkets).
Cheap fruit isn't always of great quality, but if you add a
little sugar or cook it briefly you can make it taste fantastic.
Plums, for instance, are often hard and unripe but if you stone
them, cut them into chunks, stir fry them in a little butter,
sprinkle over some sugar and pinch of cinnamon and cook them for
another minute you won't believe how different they'll taste.
Serve them on toasted malt bread with a dollop of plain yoghurt
for a real feast!
Eating as an International Student is
Yummy!
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