At university in London, we had a good kitchen with two stoves, two ovens, a lockable part of a huge fridge each, a lockable cupboard each, and a cleaner every day. (She would not clean up dirty dishes, but would do normal cleaning.)
I had a colander and a grater, which people probably borrowed. We bought a couple of utensils throughout the year, like a large roasting tin for Christmas Dinner. I bought scales for baking. The university gave international students a pan and other basic stuff.
There was a fancy supermarket nearby (though they had the cheapest spirits), a normal one about 15 minutes walk away, and a cheaper one 10 minutes beyond that. I usually went to the normal one.
Cooking together was great. Sharing that kitchen were people from England, Wales, Hong Kong, Jamaica, China, Italy. Friends who came by added Japan, Germany, France, Thailand.
The Welsh guy and his boyfriend were most organised, and about once a month got everyone who wanted to to help cook (or at least clean) for ~10-15. Normally, ~4 of us cooked in alternating pairs for the other 2.
Macaroni cheese would have been a bit disappointing for the lack of vegetables.
If I only had a few minutes and was eating myself, I'd prefer to use those 2 minute ramen things.
All of this seems fairly normal to me. The large group meals were only possible in 1st year with the large kitchen, but everything else continued in later years, renting houses or apartments.
I had a colander and a grater, which people probably borrowed. We bought a couple of utensils throughout the year, like a large roasting tin for Christmas Dinner. I bought scales for baking. The university gave international students a pan and other basic stuff.
There was a fancy supermarket nearby (though they had the cheapest spirits), a normal one about 15 minutes walk away, and a cheaper one 10 minutes beyond that. I usually went to the normal one.
Cooking together was great. Sharing that kitchen were people from England, Wales, Hong Kong, Jamaica, China, Italy. Friends who came by added Japan, Germany, France, Thailand.
The Welsh guy and his boyfriend were most organised, and about once a month got everyone who wanted to to help cook (or at least clean) for ~10-15. Normally, ~4 of us cooked in alternating pairs for the other 2.
Macaroni cheese would have been a bit disappointing for the lack of vegetables.
If I only had a few minutes and was eating myself, I'd prefer to use those 2 minute ramen things.
All of this seems fairly normal to me. The large group meals were only possible in 1st year with the large kitchen, but everything else continued in later years, renting houses or apartments.