>
Thursday, February 05, 2004
posted at 5:50, and i still have work to do
This is a blog written on the brink of fidgetiness… it`s 4:45, and I was supposed to leave 45 minutes ago in order to be on time for my Japanese class. Alas, we were unable to come up with a creative and chaos-free way to teach the fast food dialogue so it was left up for discussion until after school. Too bad they didn`t tell me there were subject meetings!!! Geeeez. I finished doing an entry in my nikki, finished marking, ate all of my fruit, I don`t want to study anymore Japanese for today, checked my phone incessantly for any messages, even anticipating junk mail! I start Nishi-kujo ES tomorrow… it`s weird I feel a little bit nervous! I feel like I haven`t started a new school in a while, even though I started Hirano this term. I think because I already labeled Hirano as an exceptional case, any feelings of displacement were to be expected, necessary even. Also because I have no other school to compare it with, I had no real expectations. But with Nishi-kujo, it`s another elementary school, but with much bigger classes than I am used to. A new staff that I have to get used to all over again, new homeroom teachers, formats, KIDS, names…at least there`s the gift of routine that all schools have, which will be my crutch.
Even though Hirano goes peerless right now in my books, there is one distinct aspect that allows for comparison: the school lunch. The first school lunch experience I had here was given to me by Shikitsu. The first time I had their lunch, I wasn`t blown away or anything. It was thin in taste, and I had to get used to the proportion size (think six year olds, not real adult sizes). But over the course of the term and this term as well, the super cute shokudo ladies have served up some really delicious lunches. One of the most memorable being the lunch before Chinese New Year when they made sticky rice which made me a little bit homesick. They also managed to completely reverse my position on kabocha and iwashi, both of which I had shunned in my previous T.O. existence. I love those two ladies! They are really cute and genki, strutting around in their blue smocks, and the shorter one always tells me she loves me in Japanese =) How can I not love them? So I have been really spoiled at Shikitsu, and so coming to Hirano and having their lunch was really different. First off I don`t even know where the kitchen is. The school is huge and there are all of these hallways and stairwells that I haven`t explored yet, reminds me a bit of UHS, but less pretty =) As a result, I don`t know who prepares my food… and frankly, it`s probably better that way. The first lunch I had there was kabocha stew, bread and something else that I`ve forgotten. The kabocha stew was a bright bright French`s mustard yellow, which threw me off, because Japanese food never comes in that colour… it was brighter than pickled daikon, and if compared to corn soup, it would be fluorescent. There were a few instances of pinwheel pasta and some peas (?), carrots and things in it… but it was TOUGH beans trying to get that “stew” down, especially since it was ICE COLD. There are only a few hot foods that I can eat cold: KFC, pizza, and mom`s chicken meatballs. Kabocha stew will never be on that list. I`ve been there for three weeks, and I have yet to be even mildly impressed (Shikitsu had already won me over by the third week). This past Monday I went to eat with some of the senior high kids from Group C, and one of their teachers asked me if I liked the school lunch. Immediately I said it was very oishii. Well, of course I would! Then to my surprise, the teacher looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said, “Really?” knowing full well I was totally lying =) hahahha… it`s nice to know my tastebuds aren`t totally warped. I wonder how many people at Hirano don`t like the lunch? The most exciting part of this week`s lunch was the store-bought package of soybeans for setsubun. I kid you not. In a close second was the soggy iwashi, also for setsubun. Note to self: soybeans sting when they are whipped at one`s head at close range =) So I`m going to go to Nishi-kujo with no expectations, caf ladies? You don`t have to love me. Lunch? You don`t have to love me either, just get me through the day, I have friends at Family Mart and Lawson`s that will hook me up.
Oy! 5:24! And they`re talking without me!
This is a blog written on the brink of fidgetiness… it`s 4:45, and I was supposed to leave 45 minutes ago in order to be on time for my Japanese class. Alas, we were unable to come up with a creative and chaos-free way to teach the fast food dialogue so it was left up for discussion until after school. Too bad they didn`t tell me there were subject meetings!!! Geeeez. I finished doing an entry in my nikki, finished marking, ate all of my fruit, I don`t want to study anymore Japanese for today, checked my phone incessantly for any messages, even anticipating junk mail! I start Nishi-kujo ES tomorrow… it`s weird I feel a little bit nervous! I feel like I haven`t started a new school in a while, even though I started Hirano this term. I think because I already labeled Hirano as an exceptional case, any feelings of displacement were to be expected, necessary even. Also because I have no other school to compare it with, I had no real expectations. But with Nishi-kujo, it`s another elementary school, but with much bigger classes than I am used to. A new staff that I have to get used to all over again, new homeroom teachers, formats, KIDS, names…at least there`s the gift of routine that all schools have, which will be my crutch.
Even though Hirano goes peerless right now in my books, there is one distinct aspect that allows for comparison: the school lunch. The first school lunch experience I had here was given to me by Shikitsu. The first time I had their lunch, I wasn`t blown away or anything. It was thin in taste, and I had to get used to the proportion size (think six year olds, not real adult sizes). But over the course of the term and this term as well, the super cute shokudo ladies have served up some really delicious lunches. One of the most memorable being the lunch before Chinese New Year when they made sticky rice which made me a little bit homesick. They also managed to completely reverse my position on kabocha and iwashi, both of which I had shunned in my previous T.O. existence. I love those two ladies! They are really cute and genki, strutting around in their blue smocks, and the shorter one always tells me she loves me in Japanese =) How can I not love them? So I have been really spoiled at Shikitsu, and so coming to Hirano and having their lunch was really different. First off I don`t even know where the kitchen is. The school is huge and there are all of these hallways and stairwells that I haven`t explored yet, reminds me a bit of UHS, but less pretty =) As a result, I don`t know who prepares my food… and frankly, it`s probably better that way. The first lunch I had there was kabocha stew, bread and something else that I`ve forgotten. The kabocha stew was a bright bright French`s mustard yellow, which threw me off, because Japanese food never comes in that colour… it was brighter than pickled daikon, and if compared to corn soup, it would be fluorescent. There were a few instances of pinwheel pasta and some peas (?), carrots and things in it… but it was TOUGH beans trying to get that “stew” down, especially since it was ICE COLD. There are only a few hot foods that I can eat cold: KFC, pizza, and mom`s chicken meatballs. Kabocha stew will never be on that list. I`ve been there for three weeks, and I have yet to be even mildly impressed (Shikitsu had already won me over by the third week). This past Monday I went to eat with some of the senior high kids from Group C, and one of their teachers asked me if I liked the school lunch. Immediately I said it was very oishii. Well, of course I would! Then to my surprise, the teacher looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said, “Really?” knowing full well I was totally lying =) hahahha… it`s nice to know my tastebuds aren`t totally warped. I wonder how many people at Hirano don`t like the lunch? The most exciting part of this week`s lunch was the store-bought package of soybeans for setsubun. I kid you not. In a close second was the soggy iwashi, also for setsubun. Note to self: soybeans sting when they are whipped at one`s head at close range =) So I`m going to go to Nishi-kujo with no expectations, caf ladies? You don`t have to love me. Lunch? You don`t have to love me either, just get me through the day, I have friends at Family Mart and Lawson`s that will hook me up.
Oy! 5:24! And they`re talking without me!
// posted by naomi @ 3:51 a.m. 
