Learn to cook for college!

If you are an international student who is interested in learning abroad, there are certainly going to be a lot of things that you have to take into consideration, not only academic stuff or how you can make friends, but there are also other small details that can really affect how you live your life. For example, how can you get money, how can you get a job, and how can you get around different places? And today, I would like to share with you something that I believe that many people tend to ignore, but the truth is that this is something that you really have to be aware of, because if you are not prepared for this, then your college experience can really go down a lot. And the topic that we are going to discuss today is regarding food, essentially what can you eat and how can you make them.

As international students, we come from different places where the food is very different; they are made from different spices, there are different ways of cooking, and essentially, it just tastes very different from other countries. However, when you stay abroad, there are going to be fewer options that can match up with the food from home. And inside of that, there's going to be a lot of food that is common with that area, but maybe very strange to you, and that you may not be able to really like because it doesn't really fit your taste or that you have actually not tasted before and you hate it. Therefore, the first tip that I would like to share with you is that you need to know how to cook, because cooking is a very important thing that any college student would need to know if they want to survive the four years in high school, and that is not to say that many people are going to stay there for much more much longer because they go to graduate school or that they go get a job. Something that is very important is that you should bring some spices when going abroad, because spices are honestly the thing that changes everything. Different cultures have different spices, and in many cultures they just put spices on the same food. For example, they put one spice on a piece of chicken, they put the other spice on the piece of chicken, and boom, they create two different cultural foods. Therefore, if you want to survive at a new place, something you should bring are the spices that are common in your homeland, the spices that you have gotten used to your whole life, so that in the future, if there's food that you don't want to eat, you can add those spices into that food so that they can taste better.

Another option that you can take is that if at your college, there are some stores nearby that offer these spices, you should buy it. For example, I am a Vietnamese, and I would like to study in the US, and I know that in the US, there are a lot of Asian stores that sell Asian food, including different spices that are very common in Vietnam. Therefore, when I come there, I can buy those spices and I can use it on the food that is offered here, which can really boost the flavor and make the food easier to eat and digest.

Another option that you can opt to is to dine out, essentially you eat at the restaurant of your culture. However, this is not always available, because many places don't offer, for example, Vietnamese restaurants. You may be able to find Vietnamese restaurants in very central cities, for example, in Los Angeles or in New York. However, if I study in a more rural area, for example, then these options are not going to be available. Another thing about eating out is that most of the time, the food is very expensive, way more expensive than if you make it yourself. Therefore, something that you should do, in my opinion, is that whenever you are studying abroad, you should know some basic cooking skills. Essentially, do you just need to know how to cook some common food from your homeland, and then you can find the recipes on the internet, and after you have come to the foreign place, you can just buy the ingredients, or that you can bring it from home already, so that the food can be more fitting to your taste.

Finally, this is especially relevant to males, but you must also learn how to clean dishes. Also, I come from an Asian culture, and I see that when it comes to cleaning dishes, typically, it is the female's work. However, when you come abroad and when you study at a new place, you are all by yourself, and you will have to learn these basic skills if you want to survive in this strange place. And finally, for some boldness tips, make sure to spare some money to buy different kitchen utensils, for example, spoons or forks or pots or knives or pans, because a lot of the time, these dorms, these college areas, they won't provide you with that. So that if you are able to bring these to you, or that you can buy them at the supermarket there, then it will be very good for you.