We've headed into this twilight days of the school year, which of course, means assemblies, events, and other special to-dos. Everyday my class schedule is tweaked: a change in class location, in class time, sometimes even the cancellation of a class.
Last week at Shichijo Sho Gakku, we had a school picnic. I was informed a few days earlier and was told to wear comfortable, casual clothes and to bring a hat and bento. Bento is basically the japanese version of a sack lunch. I considered going to the nearest Hirai Bento store of which there are practically one per block in Kumamoto and simply buying a pre-made bento, but decided that one of my goals as an ALT is to expose the students to a different culture, so instead I went to the grocery store and began to construct my own American style bento. To truly show a traditional American style sack lunch, I should have packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Just the thought of such an absurd combination is enough to send most Japanese children into a fit of giggles. Unfortunately, I don't like peanut butter, so that was out of the question. Instead, I had packed some sliced canadian bacon, Ritz crackers, apple slices, and two types of cheeses, camembert and aged gouda.
Of course, the day of the picnic began overcast and drizzling. And given the fact that about a 1/5 of the kids had influenza, the principle made the command decision to move the picnic indoors to the gymnasium. I sat with the 4th graders and watched as they all retrieved the small handkerchief wrapped bento boxes from their backpacks. ( For a better idea of what I mean, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Home_made_Bento.jpg) They were already reaching for their chopsticks when I opened my sack lunch and the chopsticks were suspended mid air as they watched with fascination as I revealed my lunch. The kids thought my sandwiches made of crackers, bacon, and camembert were ingenious. But, it was the sight of me eating slices of apple and gouda cheese that sent them into hysterics.
Their own lunches consisted of rice - every child had rice of some kind in their bento, some small meat or fish- usually a very, very small piece of chicken, meatball, or small shrimp, and some fruit - most popular was strawberries as they are in season. Also found in the bentos were various forms of pickled vegetables. And unlike any American child's sack lunch, there was not a sweet to be seen.
We all had a nice time and thankfully I had brought enough crackers to share with the small circle of 4th grade girls I was sitting with. Afterwards, we all played dodgebee, a combination of dodgeball and frisbee and a favorite of all of my students. Alas, we never had the food fight I was so hoping for yet unfortunately unable to start myself in my position of authority.
Album currently playing on my IPOD - The Band's 1978 The Last Waltz. An amazing album and an even better movie. The documentary recording of The Band's 1976 Thanksgiving farewell concert, directed by Martin Scorsese, is perhaps the greatest concert film ever made.
Current reading material - In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, since I refuse to wear green and I abstain from all alcohol on this day, I have been reading poems by one of Ireland's favorite sons, W.B. Yeats. You can check some of them out at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=7597. While "The Second Coming" is a sentimental, if cliche, favorite of mine; it is "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" which has captured my imagination and fancy.
- Jenny
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