By Lee Seung-min, Overseas Correspondent

 

The cafeteria, along with the library, is one of the places that shows the characteristics of a university.. However, as a foreign student at Osaka University, I could focus more on the ‘Cafeterias of Japanese Universities’ rather than on the ‘Cafeteria of Osaka University’.

First of all, the menu, as a matter of course, is different from cafeterias in Korean universities. The food in a university cafeteria seems to be the cheapest but at the same time, the most representative of one’s country. For example, we would usually have rice with soybean soup, kimchi, and some side dishes on one plate. However, at Osaka University, you are served Japanese food such as ramen, u-dong, kyu-dong, don-bu-ri and so on. Or, you can choose a ‘pork cutlet’, ‘fried chicken’, or ‘fried fish’ etc, once you decide on your main dish, you must choose the size of your rice bowl: Large, medium, small, and s-small, and pay for each dish. In other words, surprisingly, rice is sold separately.  The price varies with the size of the bowl.  The biggest culture shock I experienced here was in the cafeteria when the staff weighed the rice then took it out of the bowl.  The cafeteria is very clean and neat like most of the restaurants. The food is generally good. Moreover, compared to Chonnam National University’s cafeteria, the cafeteria in Osaka University is brighter and cleaner. It even has a few sofas so students can meet and study there.  In other words, it is like a combination of a restaurant and a café.

Despite several differences, the cafeteria in Osaka University, like other cafeterias, is the most crowded and liveliest place on campus. If you want to get a feel for Osaka University, you are advised to look around the library and then have lunch or dinner in the cafeteria, below the library. You will get the point.