Reminders of Sanity...

The dining hall, the two-faced being that she is, can throw up some seriously dodgy food, but at the same time is host to some of the most memorable moments of your varsity career.

Things to remember about the food are things like, at dinner never have the left over chips from lunch and never have the minute steak, as tasty as it seems when described, I'm still trying to figure out what wild critter they're trying to pass of as steak! Oh and Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are peanut butter and syrup days!

If you're lucky enough to end up in a hall like Nelson Mandela, you'll generally be treated to some awesome food, and the kitchen staff are really friendly. However there are some halls, (Cough cough..... Smuts) that are not renowned for amazing food, and in fact have been known to run out of certain foods, so when you're running up to lunch to get your chicken mayo roll and all they've got left is the dodgy health platter mushroom roll, you'll be cursing your lecturer for going over time!

Though this post is not about the food this time, (we'll post a list of what foods to eat and what not to eat soon enough) but this post is about the friends you make in the dining hall...

This evening I sat in the dining hall from 5 o'clock until about quarter past 6. How is it possible that I sat for an hour and fifteen minutes in the dining hall? Well the eating of the food took all of 15 minutes (I love mushroom rolls, hmmm) and then I indulged in the most amazing chill time. You'll walk over to the toaster (Which is known for turning bread in to either pancakes or charcoal, unless timed right!) and on the way you'll pass a fellow Journ student and while waiting for the toast you'll bitch about all the work you've got coming up. While sitting at the table eating your toast (All 4 slices, I’ll repeat, Hmmm I love mushroom rolls) one of the people at the table will offer tea and coffee (Let's just say it's not Mugg and Bean coffee), and you'll gladly accept, in between your hysterical laughing as a friend cracks the dodgiest jokes. Then if it's a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, the question "areyougoingouttonight?" will get brought up by at least 4 different people, all to which you'll generally answer "Of course!" even if there isn't a chance in Denmark you're going out. Even if you sit at a table with different people every day of the week, you still treat it like it's a family dinner, and various anecdotes about peoples days are thrown around like bouncing balls... "Ya, wow did any of you guys see that naked guy outside Eden Grove!" "Nought bru, but I heard about it! What a tweaker!"

The conversation isn't riveting but it's just what everybody needs at the end of a long day of lectures (or a long day of skipping lectures and smoking hubbly by the pool). During exams is when the dining hall really serves a purpose, it becomes a procrastinators paradise! Everybody finds the most insignificant reason to stay in the dining hall and avoid going back to res to study. The dining hall is the place where you will meet your friends for life and learn about their eating habits. If you treat it like your family dinner room, the dining hall, besides all its dodgy food and overheating toasters, can be place for some really awesome times!

Much Love

The Piet