Autumn Morning in Tsukahara

Autumn Morning in Tsukahara
Autumn morning in Tsukahara

Friday, February 3, 2012

Lunch Time!

I have enjoyed eating school lunches. They are well balanced and nutritious. Today, I had some kind of tiny, sweet fish with nuts, chicken with veggies in a cream sauce and milk. Lunch is a daily ritual shared by all. Each student has the responsibility of handing out trays, dishing out food, and cleaning up. Even the teachers get involved with the lunchtime activities. For example, I was responsible for handing out trays to the faculty and dishing out food. I learned that the chop sticks must be placed on the tray in a certain way. The milk must be placed on the far corner of the tray. It’s amusing to be corrected by the teachers when I improperly place a dish on a tray. Serving a meal is like taking a driver’s test. There are so many silly rules for doing something simple. I’m not sure why it’s that way. I once placed the milk on the top right corner of everyone’s tray. A teacher promptly relocated the milk to its proper place on every tray. Good grief! I purposely placed the chop sticks to point to the right (they should be pointed to the left) just to see if I would be corrected. Sure enough…someone turned those sticks in the other direction. I wonder what would have happened if my tragic mistake was overlooked? I think that such a violation of cultural practices would have made the headline news on NHK. I could have been deported for exposing kids to misaligned chop sticks. My eyes are twitching just thinking about it.




How much does a school lunch cost? I’m glad that you asked. A one month subscription cost 4100 yen. That’s a heck of a deal! Each day, a student visits the teacher’s room and invites me to have lunch with their class. The students enjoy eating lunch with me and I get a kick out of answering their questions in English.
George

3 comments:

  1. Hello George and Erika.....everyone at NBRC are really enjoying your posts....we get lots of good laughs and prayers your way....would love to email u but the address doesn't work anymore. You two are just an amazing couple. keep up the good work.
    Your friend Pat in California

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pat!!
      Erika misses CA so much. She is surviving in Japan and I think she is slowly readjusting to the culture. The email address is yes.oita@mopera.net Erika says, " Pat save your money and visit me in Japan after you retire. We can make snowballs together." Take care and please say hello to everyone at NBRC. Thank you for reading our blog!

      Delete
  2. 美味しそうな給食ですね。

    ReplyDelete