A nice toastie
“I think one of the biggest differences between living in the Netherlands and China is the food. I sometimes miss the food from home, where you can get a quick meal outside, with plenty of options for cheap prices.”
Life as a university student in China is very different from university life in Europe. Campuses in China are huge, with many students living in dorms together with other students. Food is available for good prices at the local canteen or outside, and dorms rarely come equipped with stoves to cook food.
When studying abroad in China, you will experience a similar lifestyle. One thing that truly stands out is the food. At any time of the day you can get food outside for good prices. Many students thus go outside to eat breakfast. They can go to the canteen or local market stands where people sell all kinds of foods for breakfast.
“In China, I would eat very differently in the morning. At universities and in many neighbourhoods there are people selling breakfast. You can get anything from steamed buns (baozi 包子) to soymilk (doujiang 豆浆) with fried dough (youtiao 油条). The options there are very diverse.”
However, in the Netherlands, most people eat bread for breakfast and lunch.
That is where this object comes into play.
“I eat toasted bread from this machine a few times a week. It is just a very easy way to get a nutritious breakfast. I did not eat a lot of bread at home in China, but since you cannot really go out for breakfast in the Netherlands, I found something that I like to eat and which you yourself can make at home. I actually like to eat toastie’s. It is nice to eat something warm and I think they are nutritious.”
This bread toaster quickly transforms a simple piece of bread into a more enjoyable and warmer meal. When you eat mostly bread everyday, it is nice to spice things up by making your bread crunchy by putting it in a convenient machine like this. The result: a nice heated piece of bread. The owner likes to add maybe some cheese, ham, or egg on top too, or perhaps even all of them together, making it an even fancier toastie.
Toastie irons were first made in the early 20th century, and became more popular as time went by. Nowadays, you can often order a toastie in many restaurants, but you can also make them at home, just like this PhD student does.
Though she still misses eating the things that she used to eat for breakfast at home, this toastie iron makes her breakfasts here enjoyable and acts as a trustworthy companion during her four year stay in the Netherlands.