Cooking as a Student: My Experience with Cooking

I have been studying at Osaka University for the last 4 months. I know how to cook and I actually enjoy cooking, but I never cook on a frequent basis. Maybe for one or two meals, but that's about it. So, with the chance of staying away from my family, I planned to do all of my cooking by myself. At first, it was definitely exciting. If you have ever live away from your family, I think you know how exciting it is the first time you have control on every aspect of your life.

But then the truth hits you. Back at home, I have all the ingredients necessary in the fridge, ready to be taken. I have nothing here, absolutely nothing. That's mean I have to go to the supermarket by myself. I was excited about it too, but the big problem lie ahead of me.

Ingredients Problem

So, what ingredients should I buy? And how much should I buy? The fridge is not that big, and if I buy too much I don't have enough space for it. But if I buy too little, I have to go to the supermarket again. 

And how much money should I spend on supermarket? I don't want to spend too much money, but I also want to have enough nutrients for my meal. That's a whole lot of problem already, and for someone who experiences most of those things the first time, it comes out being quite difficult. 

Cooking Problem

Cooking is not just throwing everything onto your pan or into your pot and let the fire do its job. You need to wash your ingredients. You need to salt the meat to make it tasty. You need to cut the vegetables into smaller pieces. Now, I know how to do all of these things. But doing them on a consistent basis is a whole different story. I have my studying to do, and a lot of other things to take care of.

Cleaning Problem

After cooking and after enjoying your dinner, you are not allowed to rest yet. There is one last obstacle that lie ahead of you, the dirty kitchen and the dirty dishes. You have to clean them all up. You have to clean the kitchen, wash the dishes, put the trash away.

Lesson Learnt

This experience with cooking and preparing food has made me realised how difficult for my mom to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for me at home. Everybody can do it 1 or 2 times, it the consistency that matters. That's why, when you say you can do something, you have to be able to do it everyday. Otherwise you cannot do it. Simple as that.

How do I manage my cooking for the last 4 months?

Well, here's the thing. I don't cook that much anymore. I'm too busy with my studying these days. My breakfast is bought at the convenience store. I eat lunch at the cafeteria. Same for dinner. Only on the weekend do I cook, and if I do cook, I just make some quick noodle. I don't even salt the meat or anything like that. Just throw them on the pan and stir fried them. That's it. So now, do I say I can cook? Maybe not. 

What about you guy? Do you guy cook during college and university? Do you guy like it? Let me know about it