The place where everything happens!

If you asked me before moving to London what the best part of halls would be, I probably would have said something along the lines of "being on my own." Oh, how wrong I was!!! The answer is, without question, the kitchen.

Not because it's fancy, because… it's not 😂😂. But because somehow, between the mismatched pans and the perpetually full drying rack, this room has become the centre of everything.

By the way, the picture above is what a Butlers Wharf kitchen looks like!

The After-School Debrief 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

There's something deeply comforting about dragging yourself home after a long day of lectures, dropping your bag, and walking into a kitchen where someone is already stirring something on the stove. You don't even need an invitation. You just have a seat and start talking. About your day, about that one seminar that made no sense, about absolutely nothing at all. The yapping begins and it doesn't stop until someone realises their pasta has been boiling for twenty minutes. 

Trying (or at Least Smelling!) Different Flavours 🧑‍🍳🧑‍🍳🧑‍🍳🧑‍🍳

One of my favourite things is how different everyone's cooking style is. You might walk in and find three completely different cuisines happening at once: someone making a stir fry, someone else making the most elaborate sandwich you've ever seen, and someone just having tea and biscuits because they don't like to cook! You learn so much about people through what they eat. And occasionally, when the stars align, someone says the magic words: "I made extra, do you want some?" Yes. The answer is always yes. Also, on our dining table we leave some sweet treats for everybody to try!  🍬🍬🍬 More often than not, they're treats someone brings from home or something new worth trying!

The Shared Meal Era 🍜🍕🍔🌮

Sometimes we actually plan it. Sometimes everybody is cooking at the same time (yes, of course it's Sunday 6pm) and suddenly it's a whole event. The kitchen gets chaotic energy, and finally we all sit down together like a tiny family. These nights are genuinely some of my happiest moments here.

The Place to See New Faces 🚪🚪🚪🚪

Halls kitchens are the place to meet new people! A flatmate invites a friend over, and suddenly there's a new person in the mix, learning the inside jokes and adding their own. We share a balcony with the flat next door, which means we're constantly crossing paths with a whole other group of people. What starts as an awkward "hi" while you're both getting fresh air turns into full conversations, shared evenings, and eventually friendship.

The Thing Nobody Tells You 😅😅😅😅

Nobody really warns you that some of your best university memories won't happen in lecture halls or libraries. They'll happen at 10pm on a Tuesday, sitting on a kitchen counter, eating someone else's leftovers, laughing about something that won't even be funny tomorrow.

The kitchen isn't just where we cook. It's where we live.