| Comment | As another immigrant, I know what you mean. Many places don't have what I would consider a dining table - I'm used to a dining table being the centre of the living room and have space for minimum four (comfortably. 6+ uncomfortably) even in studios or 1 bedroom flats.
Most of my friends here don't have that. Several flats I've lived in (in Scotland and rest of UK) don't have that. They often have a smaller table in the kitchen, fitting just a couple of people. And they have less chairs (I'm used to always having a million extra chairs in case of company).
I think this is for two reasons: Most of the people I know here don't have kids/families so they're less likely to care about dining tables and often live in small-ish flats in the cities.
Furthermore, it's a cultural thing. I'm from a culture where the main socialising is done by inviting groups of friends over for meals (or drinks) and thus larger dining spaces were needed. Here there's a pub culture where you meet up at the pub or restaurant rather than at each other's houses.
So a large dining table just isn't a priority. It's not better or worse, it's just different.
Pros and cons though: I miss cooking awesome meals for people. I don't miss not having to clean the house every time I want to hang out with friends. |
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