Dorm Series: Dining Hall

***Note about last post:
I reread what I wrote, and it sounds slightly negative. I think the culture of keeping up appearances, looking cute and nice on a daily basis, is a good thing. It kind of sucks for me at Sophia because I don't dress up as girly and I look kind of sloppy, but in general I think it's something a lot of my American peers can learn from. You don't have to look like a model everyday or spend an hour doing hair and makeup in the morning, but you shouldn't go around looking like you just rolled out of bed either. It's probably just another sign of conformity, but I like it better than Creighton where it seems like some girls try to out-ugly each other.

I'll start my dorm post series with one of my favorite places -- the dining room! Yay food. I realize it might seem lame to do posts on such mundane, everyday events like eating. Too bad. Breakfast and dinner are served Monday through Saturday; we're on our own on Sundays and national holidays. There is a set menu for each meal: an entree, side dish or salad, rice, and soup. Shoyu and some sort of pickled vegetable are by the iced tea and ocha (green tea).

When I come into the dining room, there's a sink and a ticket board on the right wall. Each resident has a ticket on the board, and you turn that in when you grab food.

I live in A105, so this is my ticket.

I grab my ticket and drop it off in a little container in the same shelf area were the main food is. Grab a tray, grab my individual servings of the entree and side dish, and move on to rice.

In the picture there's nothing set up, but there are usually containers of bowls for soup, rice, and tea cups. There's a jar of chopsticks, shoyu, and saucers for shoyu or pickled veggies. Tea and rice are also in this area.

You can sit at the little wooden table if it's open, but most people sit at the tables. It's a very small dining area to service a few dozen residents, but it's okay.

The sink and stove area where the girls are in that photo is open for residents to use. There are pots, pans, knives, and cutting boards under the sink. If you use it, you wash it. I'm not sure who controls the TV during meal hours, but it's usually tuned to some crazy Japanese game show.

When I'm done eating, I put my tray with all the dishes I used on this shelf.

I've never seen more than three older women in the kitchen at one time, either cooking or washing dishes. They make great food compared to the dining halls at Creighton; it's practically home cooking. I'm told dinner is better than breakfast (I've had breakfast twice). I'll have to try to get them something at the end of the semester.

I'm not sure how I'll illustrate my daily commute, because any pictures of the train would just be of the person smooshed up next to me. Seriously. We'll see.