Anappetite: Experiences and Food from a Student

In my opinion, Bri'ish food gets a bad rap and is actually pretty delicious, but how does the overall restaurant experience compare between Canada and in England? Diversity On the diversity front, both countries are absolutely killing it. I’ve had the pleasure of trying some rare (and incredible) cuisines in both, like Yemeni food in Calgary and Sri Lankan food in Oxford. Delicious (and spicy) Sri Lankan food Each country also has its own take on some cuisines - for example, Calgary gave the world ginger beef, while the UK claims chicken tikka masala. England shines when it comes to doner kebabs, while Canada has amazing banh mi game. Of course, London as a city is on another level when it comes to variety, but in Canada, diverse food is more evenly spread across its cities. Pricing Surprisingly (at least to me), eating out in England is generally more expensive than in Canada after converting the currency. Many Canadian buffets are top-tier value, such as Sizzling Grill in Calgary...

If you've watched Top Chef Canada , Iron Chef Gauntlet , Beat Bobby Flay , or others, you may have seen Calgary's own Chef Nicole Gomes dominate the competitive cooking scene. As an avid Food Network watcher, when I saw her Calgary restaurant Cluck N Cleaver on Big Food Bucket List , I knew I had to find out how her skills translated to its menu. Chef Gomes on Big Food Bucket List So, I ordered three of their fried chicken sandwiches: the Mother Clucker, the Sando, and el Pollo Loco, each priced at around $15. Mother Clucker Their signature fried chicken sandwich, the Mother Clucker, has 1/4 pound of fried chicken breast covered in honey hot sauce with coleslaw and pickles, and most importantly a blue cheese mayonnaise which sounded really delicious when I saw this sandwich on TV. Cat Approved (...I was in fact, a bit scared of the blue cheese mayo because I have a love-hate relationship with blue cheese.) In this case, I found that the blue cheese mayo was perfectly formulat...

While this isn’t quite a tech blog, this post should have some important insights for any UCalgary students interested in a tech career. After seeing that  Jeff Nguyen , a recruiter in the student space, founder of BobaTalks (which provides free mentorship for students), and prolific "LinkedInfluencer" (the good kind) was going to have a booth at  CalgaryHacks 2025 , I knew I had to reach out. As someone deeply involved in both student mentorship and tech recruiting, he seemed like the perfect person to chat with about student recruiting, starting with how UCalgary students can stand out in the job market.  Q: UCalgary has good computer science courses and fantastic clubs. Even so, many students here find it tough to break into big or even mid-sized tech companies because there's not a lot of direct access to recruiters. What's your take on the best way for students in a market like ours to get noticed? Jeff : I believe that computer science is one of those fields wh...

For the unitiated, "Girl Math" is when you justify spending money as saving money by jumping through a few mental hoops - such as by spending an extra $15 on Amazon to get free shipping. So as a lighthearted and slightly helpful financial overview of my exchange experience from UCalgary to Oxford Brookes University, here are some Girl Math examples I thought about during my study abroad experience. If you exchange to a university with tuition more expensive than your home university, you're getting a great deal Living in student accommodation is $30/night versus a minimum $100/night hotel, and you get a free transit pass, so it's a super discounted vacation! Visiting a free museum in the UK is worth $30 equivalent in Canada. So visit many! Every $400 trip to another country basically saves $1000+ in flights that you'd have to pay to take that trip from Canada If you get a study abroad scholarship, that's free money that you wouldn't get otherwise  Eating l...

The history and traditions of Oxford University range from terrifying to hilarious, sometimes both, and usually absurd. Going back a few centuries, some examples of this are several murders (one of which led to the creation of Cambridge University in 1209), the constant consumption of beer, the escapades and controversies of the infamous Bullingdon Club , and more. The Oxford “Crewdate” is no exception to this rule. It can best be described as an excuse to drink copious amounts of cheap wine, livened up with interesting traditions to call it Oxonian. When I registered for a crewdate, I had no idea what it would entail, except for hopefully some yummy food (they're usually held in Thai/Indian restaurants) and the instruction to bring my own bottle of wine. Walking into the cozy-looking Thai restaurant, I was pleased with the ambiance... until we were guided to the basement. There, I was shocked to find a tiny room packed with 30-ish stools around a large table set with plastic wine...

Thanks to a friend who brought me in as a guest, I was lucky enough to experience an Oxford Formal Dinner at Queens' College - the stuff of romantic/posh dreams. Oxford High Street First, there was a pre-dinner reception in a student common room with small bites like pretzels, prosciutto, and champagne. It was a nice start and a chance to socialize with other attendees. Most people were wearing black dresses or suits, however it was not strictly a black tie engagement so there were pops of colour. Part of the student common room Then, we entered the beautiful dining room with high ceilings, paintings, ornate windows, and chandeliers. Seating was assigned with namecards, and the tables were nicely set with real candles and bread with butter. The atmosphere was lovely, and it was surreal to be in such a unique setting. Before the first course arrived, the high table guests entered the room (generally high-ranking "fellows" of the College), at which point a gavel banged and ...

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