Lunchtime at Elementary SchoolsOne of the best parts of substitute teaching at an elementary school isn't the fundamental distinction I receive knowing that I am contributing to the advancement of their higher linguistical education....naw...it's lunchtime and the grubs!
Many Japanese school boards take considerable care in making sure their students receive healthy, well-balanced meals. It's fun to watch some students don surgical suits before serving each classes meal trays and other students call out the day's menu:
Kids: "Today's menu is fried salmon steak with pickled vegetables. Also mixed rice and seaweed soup......."
Kids:"Today's menu is bean soup with ham, fried chicken and pumpkin, and wheat bread. Also, because it is Sensubun holiday, we get a bag of roasted soy beans to ward off evil spirits....."
Kids: "Today for lunch we have pumpkin mash, potato and vegetable soup, white bread, and as an added treat...mochi ice cream!" (Yukimi daifuku is a frozen, sweet mochi rice cake filled with vanilla ice cream. It's very stretchyyyyyy)
This student wanted to show me just how stretchyyyyyy the mochi dessert was!
Kids: "Today for lunch we have warm seaweed salad, stewed meat and potatoes, with fish flakes sprinkled on our rice...."
Kids: "Our lunch today has chicken egg drop soup, fried locally caught sweetfish, milk bread, and corn on the cob....."
Kids: "For lunch today we have fried potato taters and fish and a bowl of white stuff with noodles swimming through it...."
