There are all kinds of habits I've adapted
to while I've been in Japan.Ý I bow at practically anything now...sometimes
I'll even bow while on the phone unknowingly until it is pointed
out to me by an amused Japanese teacher.Ý So for a while the learning
was occurring so slowly that I didn't really know that I had changed
until I really thought about it.Ý Case in point:Ý Lunch time.
ÝÝÝ One particular day I decided to alternate
my roles from being a Japanese to being an American.Ý Yes life can be that
boring sometimes.Ý This is my experience which may or may not be the
general experience by other ALTs.Ý At one of my junior highs the 2nd
graders...our 8th grade...sit in a cafeteria together...the 3rd graders...our
9th grade are on a separate floor in their own cafeteria...and the 1st
graders are each in their classrooms...the are 4 divisions of each
grade.Ý
ÝÝÝ In Japan, and this is standard, no one can
eat until all the students have had their meal prepared.Ý Students dish
out the food that comes in pales from the "lunch ladies".Ý EveryoneÝis
given the same meal.Ý Each day is thankfully different but there isn't
a choice.ÝÝÝBecause this whole process takes awhile the food is
rarely warm and often cold.Ý Also I've gotten used to being extremely
hungry and only staring at the food in front of me threatening it for what
was in store after the "Itadakimasu (I begin), which is the phrase
that every Japanese says when about to eat.Ý One student will stand
in front of the whole grade and yell out "Itadakimasho (Let's begin)"Ýand
bow as the students at their long tables sit in perfect posture answer
back "Itadakimasu" with a bow.Ý You can imagine how many differences
there are in this versus the American way of "buy it/bring it and
eat it at first available opportunity."Ý
ÝÝÝ Most of the time students use chopsticks
to eat.Ý Sometimes spaghetti is served and that means forks can be
used.Ý There are always between about 3 dishes.Ý One main entree plate
with a bowl of some kind of soup often with miso or tofu or both, and a
rice bowl.ÝOkay having said all that background now I'll tell you
what the point of this all is.
ÝÝÝ Japanese people rarely leave any dish on
the table.Ý They pick it up with their left hand and hold it a certain
way (yes there is a particular way of holding a rice bowl it was
quickly pointed out to me when I first arrived) and "shovel" the
food into their mouths often using as many noises as possible especially
if the food is a noodle product.Ý On this day I was going to eat
like an American and leave the dishes on the table.Ý Well even with
my chopstick expertise the venture took a long time because the food
especially rice kept falling so I turned Japanese and put that bowl
up to my lips and shoveled it in.Ý
ÝÝÝ Another thing is that big chunks of food
are rarely cut.Ý No one really uses their chopsticks for cutting...I mean
it can be done but often it is a time comsuming thing so the common thing
to do is pick up the whole thing and bite off parts of it bit at
a time.Ý I tried to be American this time and when I asked for a
knife they just looked at me...see knives during school lunch only
seem to serve the purpose of peeling apples...they don't eat the
skin here...and since there were no apples there were no knives and
why was I asking for one anyway?Ý So I turned Japanese and ignored
all those "good manners"Ýlessons that my parents tried so hard to
teach me over the years and wolfed down that chicken patty one big bite
at a time as it dangled from my chopsticks.Ý Take that Martha Stewart.Ý
ÝÝÝ At the end, the students in each section
of six at the table, stack up the dishes, play "rock, paper, scissors"
so see who gets stuck with taking everyone's dishes to the main station.Ý
I don't have to do this because I'm a teacher so they do it for me.Ý
Lastly the same ritual occurs with the same student as before standing
in front of the grade and this time yelling "Gochizoosamadeshita
(It was a feast)" and it isÝanswered by the masses.ÝÝ
ÝÝÝ So knowing all this please be patient with
me when I get home...if I bow...smirk...if I eat like a pig don't blame
it on my parents...