School Lunch

School lunch in Japanese Elementary Schools

In April, I started teaching at elementary schools. One of the biggest differences that I noticed between elementary schools in Japan and the U.S. was the lunch system. In Japan, the students eat with their classmates and are required to eat EVERYTHING off their plate. I don't know about all of you, but being forced to eat everything is a bit extreme. Some people can eat more than others, and some have certain dislikes of food. In my case, I do not like hijiki or konyaku which is a main ingredient in most school lunches so I just leave it untouched. But as soon as the children see that I haven't eaten, all hell breaks loose. Kids start telling me that I have to eat it and then tell the teacher that I didn't eat everything. Even worse, some kids who just can't eat everything because they are full are bullied by the other kids into eating and aren't left alone until everything is clean off their plate.

In the U.S., kids are allowed to bring their lunches from home. Those who don't are allowed to choose what they want to eat from the school cafeteria so every one is happy. Now this is for me, the ideal school lunch system.

Media and Swine Flu

I am a little worried about the way that the media here in Japan is handling the outbreak of swine flu. This morning I noticed the lead story on the news was that the new swine flu had spread to the Tokyo area. They gave details on where the newly infected person lives, and even the route they traveled to get back to their house, even telling us if the person was wearing a mask or not. I think this is a little irresponsible. It makes people worry, yet doesn't seem to help them at all. I wish the news would focus on what people should do to prevent getting sick and reassure people that this new flu really isn't any more dangerous than normal flu.

The news did mention that you shoul wash your hands, and it did mention how to take care of people who were sick in their homes, and it did mention that you would likely not die from catching the flu, but it should have spent more time on these important matters and less time telling people about where the new cases of swine flu happened and transportation routes that the infected person may have traveled. This is simply not helpful.

The news is suppossed to be a public service. Encouraging people to panic is not a service. Instead, I would like to see the news providing more balanced coverage and urging people to recognise swine flu for what it is, just a bad case of the flu.

Hiroshima and Miyajima

Hiroshima and Miyajima

I recently took a trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima during Golden Week. Hiroshima is definitely a place that everyone should visit. As it is the site of the first atomic bombing during World War II, it has a very deep and sad history. Despite the horrors of the atomic bomb, the reconstruction of Hiroshima goes to show that there is always hope even at the bleakest moments. For anyone who hasn't been to Hiroshima, I highly recommend that you visit at least once. And be sure to try their okonomiyaki...its declicious!

Miyajima was also a lot of fun to visit. The Itsukushima shrine and red Torii gate were very beautiful, especially during high tide. I was even able to touch the gate during low tide. Be sure to check the tides before you visit so that you can see it at high and low tide. AND...be sure to try their barbequed oysters and momiji manju...wonderfully delicious!

Summer is Here!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a nice Golden Week. Sadly, the weather was not very nice. But for the past two weeks, the weather has been almost perfect. It has become very hot in Tokyo, and it is not yet humid. I think this might be the best time of year in the Kanto area.

I think the nicest thing about summer in Tokyo is waiting for the train. In the winter, it can get very cold waiting for the tarin outside. But in the summer, it is very pleasant to stand on the platform, especially if there is a nice breeze.

Also in the summer many restaruants in Tokyo put tables outside so you can sit and have a coffee or a meal and enjoy the weather. Tokyo gets hot and humid, but I still like eating outside. Where I come from, it is very hard to eat outside because there are so many insects. This is not a problem in Tokyo.

I am really looking forward to summer. It's my favorite season of the year.