Rice, rice, and more rice!

I'm sure you know that the Japanese eat a lot of rice. And before coming here, I knew I would be eating a lot of rice. But I didn't realize just how much rice the Japanese eat. Take a look at this dormitory cafeteria meal plan for October and you'll be able to see for yourself. I've highlighted the gohan, i.e., rice, in pink. On 20 of the 31 days in October, rice is served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Holy cow!

I generally only eat in the cafeteria for lunch. (I have only had dinner there once and have yet to have breakfast there.) So it's not like I'm eating rice as often as the locals. But get this: We just bought a bag of rice for the first time in Japan the other day (5 kg for about 1980 yen). So now we have started having rice for dinner at home. I can't imagine having rice for breakfast as well, but maybe that's next.

Oh, and in case you're wondering what we have for breakfast, well, we eat stuff that we usually eat in the States, such as: various types of rolls/bread, eggs, granola, and fruit.

Of course, the Japanese eat "sticky" rice, which makes it easy to eat with chopsticks. And at lunch I've noticed that most kids (and staff members) eat every last grain of their rice! So I do my best to do so as well. In the States, people might look at you funny if you were to pick your bowl of rice clean. But over here, it's quite OK to concentrate intently so that you can get those last few grains, one by one, between the tips of your chopsticks and into your mouth.

As a matter of fact, I've noticed that most of the kids and staff members who eat in the dormitory cafeteria finish just about every last bite of all their food, not just their rice. I think I was pretty good about doing that before I came here, but now I guess I try even harder to not waste any food. Have a look for yourself at this "after" picture. Not bad, eh?

On another note: Look closely and you'll see a tiny straw for the milk (which is also served each and every day for lunch and almost every day for dinner!). I never use the straw, but I'm one of the only ones who doesn't. I think the straw is pure waste. I used to think that the Japanese had a problem with touching the milk carton directly with their mouths and therefore insisted on using the straws. But they drink from plenty of other containers without using straws. Hmmm? I smell a topic for another blog...