Bento Boxes

Today I got to visit Akita-nishi elementary school and although the classes went very well, lunch was by far the highlight of the day. We didn’t have school lunch and so everyone had to bring a packed lunch. This is very rare and elementary and junior high schools and so the kids see it as a real treat. I could feel the excitement building as I entered the 5th grade class and sat down to eat. Usually after we say “itadakimasu” everyone starts eating but today they took time to admire each others lunches and begin swapping and changing things they didn’t like. I’ve never seen them happier! They were also very shocked when they saw that my lunch did not include bread or potatoes. “But I thought foreigners always ate bread and potatoes!?!,” they cried in amazement. I guess I just didn’t play my role as token foreigner very well today after all…

If I got to take this to school everyday, I would be excited too!