Kyuushoku for 8 March

Monday

Milk（牛乳）

Sautéed beef and vegetables on top of rice（牛丼）

Grilled smelt shishamo　（焼きシシャモ）

Japanese radish salad（大根サラダ）

I purely guessing at what today’s menu was. I was at a different kyuushoku centre school today, so I didn’t have the menu. This school doesn’t hang the menu up anywhere that I could see. Well actually, I see it right it front of me now. But we’re in the middle of a meeting and I can’t really take a picture without everyone looking at me. Japanese cell phones are required to make noise (and a really loud noise at that) so there’s no such thing as a silent picture. And the teacher’s got her other papers covering up today’s menu, so I can’t even confirm what I typed above. Oh well.

Anyway, today wasn’t so bad. I wasn’t sure if the stew looking thing was gyudon (sautéed beef and vegetables on top of rice) or not. I put it on my rice thinking maybe it was and the vice-principal came up after lunch to tell me how skillful I am at “reading the air”. Reading the air is Japanese for reading between the lines. But since half of Japanese is just unspoken nonsense, reading between the lines is very important. Reading between the lines also apparently includes situations where you might put a stew on top of your rice I guess. The vice-principal told me that a lot of the teachers didn’t know whether to put the stew on top of the rice or eat it as is. I was to be commended on my understanding of reading between the lines to understand what the lunch ladies intended today’s meal to be. Impressive, eh?

The shishamo were as terrified as ever to be kidnapped from their breeding grounds and grilled alive with their pregnant stomachs the special treat for Japanese school children. I always feel bad for them because their faces hold so much fear.

The salad was good, it was some sort of sweet and sour dressing with sesame seeds.

4 shishamo