The long and intricate mysteries of school lunches (Part II)

But even before I sat down, I had to get my food. First you grab some chopsticks and a tray. Then you grab your rice bowl and fill it with rice. But for some reason, that day there were rice bowls as well as plates. I grabbed a rice bowl, but the lunch lady told me to grab a plate. I never figured that one out. Eating rice from a plate? Weird.

Yeah, so when I had my food, I started heading toward the table the lunch lady instructed me to sit at. But the principal was at that table and I didn't exactly want to sit with him. So I headed away from the table, but guess who intercepted me? The lunch lady! That was the only time she ever told me where to sit. I don't get it.

Oh, and we fried up our own steaks. Each table had a little grill, big enough for about three steaks. So we all took turns. That was cool. And we got to use a fork and knife! But it seemed that most everyone was using the silverware only for the steak. When they ate their rice and salad, they used chopsticks. I guess you can call that digital multitasking.

As is often the case during a meal, someone, this time the principal, mentioned how well I use chopsticks. (Before coming here, we were told that the Japanese often use such a remark as a conversation starter and I've already heard it a number of times.) I just sort of shrugged and said, "Thanks." But then the principal asked me if I had ever used chopsticks in America. It sort of blew his mind when I told him that using chopsticks in the U.S. is rather commonplace. And then he asked who taught me how to use them and I told him I think it was my mother. Again, he was sort of flabbergasted.

Then the principal asked me about the steak: "Do you like Japanese beef?" (Yes.) "Which is better, American beef or Japanese beef?" (They are both good.) "How often do you eat steak here?" (Rarely.) "How often do you eat steak in America?" (Not very often.)

And I also get this a lot: "Can you eat rice?" I lay off the sarcasm and simply say, "Yes." (I have a feeling that most Japanese seem to think that Americans never or only rarely eat rice.)

Another question that comes up all the time: "What do you prefer: Rice or bread?"

Anyway, yesterday, for the first time, I did not take any rice! I told you I'm sick of it, so I just skipped it. Only one or two kids seemed to notice and when they did, they were kind of surprised. But they quickly forgot.

Oh, and the rice gods must be listening! Because today we actually had something called "takikomigohan," which basically means some sort of flavored rice. I didn't recognize everything that was in the rice, but the main added ingredient was chestnuts, a popular fall food in these parts. (Here's a picture of a different type of mixed rice from back in September.) Man, it was nice to finally have something in the rice! Yeah! But you know what that means: It'll be a while until I'll be eating rice again!