Food glorious Food - a photo post of my final school lunches [it's not life that matters but the journey...]

I forgot to post the pictures I took of my last week's worth of school lunches. Some of these were actually quite good, but honestly I won't miss these lunches. It was always a mystery what I'd get, and sometimes the quantity was just too much. My system is doing so much better now that I'm eating light lunches at home.

Anyway - it was a very interesting experience. here's pics (no clickable thumbnails this time) of my last school lunches, with explanations, below a cut:

Vegetable curry with rice, fried chicken, corn and spinach salad with cheese (very delicious!), milk and very weak green tea:

Fried fish, some kind of salad with seaweed and beans (not very delicious), miso soup, rice, and a strawberry, and milk (I didn't get tea this day):

Yakisoba, melon bread (yummy!!), fruit with yogurt, and milk:

Oden (daikon radish, pork, vegetables and tofu in a fish soup stock - not delicious at all!), rice with nanohana furikake (nanohana is a flower in English called "rapeseed" and furikake is topping for rice, usually made with seaweed and dried fish and egg - this furikake was delicious!!!), two strawberries (wow), milk and green tea:

Omelette with rice (under the omelette is red rice, made with ketchup and seasonings), salad with daikon radish, celery and cucumber (delicious), miso soup, and a strawberry tart (yummy!), and milk and tea:

And the last school lunch, on my last day of teaching at the junior high was a special one. they served fried "katsu" (pork) for luck (for the graduates) because Katsu in Japanese also means "to win"; "ebi fry" (fried shrimp), "sekihan" (rice with red beans) with "goma" (sesame), which is also served at special occasions (this time, graduation), some strange soup with tofu and something else (not very delicious), a slice of melon, milk (of course) and green tea:

My favorite of these was the omelette with rice, and perhaps the last day since I love fried pork and fried shrimp, and I also like sekihan. it's very tasty!

Hope you enjoyed that slice of Japanese food-life!

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My school had a kyushoku schedule for each month -- I bet there's a chance you either just didn't receive the schedule or couldn't read it?

I have to admit that sometimes even though I could read it, I'd have no idea what the heck something was going to be anyway. But usually I knew what stuff was, and so if I said "Hello everyone, how are you?" at the class start and someone said "I'm hungry," I'd often say "What's lunch today?" and we'd look at the schedule and it'd be like "Do you like curry and rice? Who doesn't like curry and rice?" and so on as a class conversation starter...

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at the junior high school, sometimes got the schedule, and sometimes I could read the menus. I got to the point that I could recognize certain things... but sometimes, as you say, some of the dishes were just unusual. and we did sometimes use the daily lunch as a class starter, especially in the 4th period classes before lunch.

however, at the elementary schools they never gave me a schedule, so it was always a mystery:)

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Many of those dishes look quite delicious. I'm not very familiar with *real* Asian cuisine; I suppose what we get here in Germany and what I cook myself is probably just influenced by traditional Asian dishes.
You don't seem to like tofu. I love all kinds of soy food. Luckily, because I'm lactose intolerant, so tofu, soy milk and other soy products have replaced dairy products.

I love green tea (my all-time favourite drink), but the one we have here never really is green.

That milk package with the giraffe looks cute. :o)

oh I love tofu! whatever the dish that had tofu wasn't very good - the soup base was too fishy. but I do love tofu and soy milk and anything soy based. much of the Japanese food is delicious - but some of the school lunches were strange.

they have the same milk for the elementary and junior high schools - they are cute. and the milk here is quite good. I don't drink it in the states - it seems very full of chemicals.

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well there are many situations when I can't eat what my MIL cooks, or had to throw away (or give away if I could) what I got at the schools. but I do okay with most things. I do eat meat, but I am trying to cut back. some people can't fathom what Japanese people eat, and sometimes I miss the grocery stores in America. but I'll be back soon!

when you say you don't like Japanese food, what are you thinking of though? there are many things you find in Japanese restaurants in America that aren't really truly Japanese dishes.

somne of th efood looks really really yummy

some of it was:)

that is good :)

Hahah, this reminds me of the lunch I used to buy at the Keio Medical Center. It doesn't look like much but pictures always distort proportions. I'm surprised you say it's too much for you. Hmm, yum! Now I'm craving for Japanese food. I'm going to get Ramen for lunch today then. =)

well I don't eat big lunches most of the time. I really prefer having just a small sandwich, soup or salad for lunch. or even cereal sometimes.
I have a small appetite - I eat small breakfasts and prefer small lunches, and then eat a bigger dinner. also as for rice, I can only eat about half of what the schools served me. it's just too heavy for me. I can eat a big plate of spaghetti though - so it's strange. I guess white rice doesn't agree with my system.

some of these lunches were very delicious - but having yakisoba with bread was a bit too much starch. I'm surprised when Masahiko eats rice and ramen together. too much for me!

Masa has the asian palate, finely attuned to rice and ramen. =)

yes, he does.

funny that you call him Masa - that's what his good friend in Washington calls him. his Chicago friends called him Mahiko. four syllables (Masahiko) seems too much for most Americans.

All of this looks so good. So much variety.

yes that's the best thing about school lunches - they are very good at covering all the food groups. and always there's variety. healthier by far than American school lunches.

I do love your food pics! :D It's so cool to see the lunches in other countries :D

yes sadly I'll be gone soon and won't be able to post anymore food pics from here. I'll have to post my "return to America" meals!

glad you enjoyed the pics!

Ooo, awesome! I love how you take pictures of the food! :D That corn and spinach salad with cheese looks deee-lish! And so do many of the others, I may have to go make myself a little midnight snack, lol! ;)

Thanks again for sharing all of your pics with us! They're really fascinating! :D *hugs* ♥!

yes I always take pictures of my food - it's something that Masahiko cringes, but I have to remember when it's something that I either loved or hated!

and yea - the spinach salad with cheese was really good. I'll have to figure out how to make it when I'm home!

I'm so glad you enjoy the pictures!!
*hugs*

those all look delicious! i bet that "something" in the last soup was a fish ball.

yes I think you're right about the fish balls - something you'd find in oden. I'm not keen on them.

When you come back to WA, don't drink any milk. 17 brands have been found to have higher levels of radiation. Just wanted you to know in case you hadn't heard. *hugs*

thanks for the warning - I actually don't like American milk and much prefer Soy milk.

*hugs*

It looks so good!

some of it was.
*hugs*

it's not life that matters but the journey...

Food glorious Food - a photo post of my final school lunches

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December