The Cafeteria

Our university has two cafeterias. The main cafeteria is located at some, what I’d say, a rather odd location, tucked away on one corner of the university’s inner building wings at the end of a small slope from the main entrance. The second, smaller one, is located right on the main building and is easily recognizable during lunch time as a major road ,which cuts in front of the main building, is always buzzing with students during lunch time. Both cafeterias are packed with students during lunch time, and has a capacity much lesser than what is needed. My own ,rather rough estimate, would say that the main cafeteria could hold no more than say 250 seats at any one time, and the second can hold probably no more than 150. This is way too small, and it’s rather annoying trying to find a seat during lunch time, as most of the time they are filled.

Due to the fact that I normally take my daily Japanese lessons near the main building, I always ate at the smaller cafeteria located at the main building. It’s a rather regular looking cafeteria, at first glance, with a slightly high ceiling, and square tables fitting four per table. It's not very big though, and looks more like a large room in the building converted into a cafeteria. The main cafeteria is divided right down the middle with a partial wall that extends ¾ th of the way in from the back of the cafeteria, and leaving a large area for where students buy their food - rice set on one side, and ramen (Japanese noodles) on the other. It’s rather annoying when you’ve got a limited lunch break, and can’t find a seat, and my Japanese studying class mates and I often find ourselves either buying ‘bento’ (Japanese lunch boxes) to eat elsewhere, or carry our cafeteria food out and eat on a near by grass slope when the sky is clear, and the sun warm.

I stay till quite late at night at the university most school days, and also take my dinner at the same cafeteria. The truth is that, the cafeteria food isn’t all that special, the price is not as cheap as you would expect, and the menus rather unchanging. Eating there can really be boring sometimes, except, that at night…

The cafeteria is much less congested during the night, and there are plenty of seats for everyone. To say the least, there are quite a few not so expensive small shops near the university serving quit decent food. However, besides being lazy to walk to those shops, there is another reason why I usually take my meals at the university. Located on one side of the right side of the cafeteria, stands a small piano. Every night, some student from some musical university would come, and recite some songs at our university cafeteria. Being a big fan of instrumental and classical music I find this addition a very pleasing one. With the hassle and bustles of the lunch atmosphere gone during the night, the cafeteria really becomes a pleasant place to dine. Coupled with an atmosphere in the cream color and ceiling of the cafeteria that, at least, I don’t notice during the day, it accents a slight feeling of warmth, hardly noticeable during lunch time when everyone is scavenging for a place to sit during noon time. Coming from the lab working late, I really enjoy myself eating, and listening to the piano during my dinner. This small addition to the cafeteria has made our cafeteria one of my favorite places to dine, despite it’s questionable pricing of food (for a university), and rather plain standard menu and plain flavored food. Dining with music really does relieve a lot of any stress in my work, and at least, just that 40-50 minutes at dinner time I really become relaxed by the sound of the music. It’s good to know that at least they did something right with this cafeteria, and I often wonder who had the idea to make this possible… Who ever it was, I must thank that person, for making our cafeteria that much more pleasant to dine at night….