Life as a japanese student.

[jade94]

(\__/)
(='.'=) i think i would love to be japanesse student although im not sure about being in scholl until 6;00 and being suverly punished for being tardy. but otherwise everything would be awesome because theres so much to do in japan. and you never be bored. lost. but still.
(")_(")

[Nanobyte]

Yeah yeah, that's all pretty, but you forgot Yakuza and Godzilla mafia in Japan, i was thinking to join exchange program to study in Japan but i think i won't now, i don't wanna be kidnaped or killed by Mafia!

[jasonbvr]

You are right, as a Japanese student you would never be bored because you would be working yourself to early gray hairs. I don't know what it is related to, whether it is stress or genetics, but I see a lot of 13 to 15 year old kids with as many gray hairs as I have (26).

The organized crime comment doesn't even deserve a reply, but take a quick look at the crime statistics of Japan compared to the US specifically in the category of random rape, mugging and kidnappings. If you don't know what you're talking about, why don't you ask questions rather than making completely unfounded statements?

[jasonbvr]

Oops, posted the same thing twice.

[jasonbvr]

Kyushoku is school lunch. It is funny how even now, a lot of what I remember about school in the US has to do with the food I ate there. So let's talk rice and bread for a bit.

I say rice and bread because basically these two together make up, in my opinion, the foundation of the Japanese diet. Your school lunch will either be known as a bread or rice day. I ask the kids all the time, what is for lunch today? The only thing most will remember is whether it is bread or rice today. Different types of bread, they are always some form of white bread (usually the bun type of stuff). You have plain white bread in variations such as with raisins, apples, cheese, or chocolate chips mixed into it. Then you have the flavored white breads like melon and chocolate. Then there is the infamous age-pan which is a white bread fried and then dusted with, I think, some sort of sweet potato flavoring. Age-pan is really good when you get accustomed to it, but the freaking flavor powder gets every. Different types of rice will be the plain, short grained rice you get everywhere. Sometimes you get the furikake to sprinkle on it which comes in different flavors (usually a salty fish like taste). Other times there will be the different types of seaweed mixed in or you get the seaweed paper to make mini onigiris.

The lunch at chugakkou is supposed to be 900 calories each day, and a lot of those calories come from the carbs like the bread and rice. Other carb heavy food served will be the spaghetti, udon, soba, and yaki-soba dishes. Then there is always some form of meat or egg for protien. I've never seen a boiled egg coated with meat and then fried until I ate kyushoku. There are also a lot of eggs in the soup or you might get a pickled boiled egg on some days. Fish, of course, is quite prevalent as well. Whether it is fried or baked. Usually you get the cheap kind of fish like saba, but every now then you get a chunk of salmon. Pork is by far the most common meat in kushoku. You will get fried pork sandwiches, bacon in the vegetable soup, pork in the curry, little hot dog slices in the salad. Honestly with all the pork and eggs I see, I don't see how any Japanese student lives past 20.

The soup, bring on the mushrooms. I had never eaten so many different types of mushrooms before living in Japan. But anyways, there are three basic types of soup, vegetable (tomatoe base and non-tomatoe), miso in all its forms, and the chowders (think New England clam chowder without the clams). The chowders I can't really eat because once they made me sick so now I fear them. Basically they are corn or potato base.

Lastly we have the salad or fruit section. I am not too fond of goma (sesame seed) dressing, so a lot of times I don't like the salads. Vinegar based, no trouble. A lot of times the salad is this pathetic mush of green stuff. Sometimes you get some broccoli, but if you slather that junk in mayo I won't touch it. Fruit is what I look forward to. Sometimes we get awesome little fruit bowls. Being that school lunch is fairly cheap, the quality of fruits and veggies (most expensive food in Japan, my opinion) is not really that great.

A few other little details about lunch. Like I said before about the autonomy of the students, the students prep and serve their own lunches. I am not talking about cooking because most school lunches are trucked in from a factory everyday. They take turns having to dish out the food to the other students. Unlike in the morning, the teacher for that class eats with the students which is more for the bonding than keeping an eye on them. The biggest downside to food in the school, you are not allowed to opt out. Bringing your own food is a dame (no, no). Hooray for Japanese conformity, if you don't like the food or worse are a vegetarian I guess you're screwed.

Japanese like to brag a lot about the healthiness of their food, but there are some major faults. Zero fiber, white breads, pastas and white rice are what I have come to think of as "white death." It is really hard to maintain a healthy carb, fat and protein ratio with this stuff. Then there is the grease. I am not sure what kind of oil they use, but there is loads of grease in a lot of the food at school. Pork and eggs, both are loaded with cholesterol. And even though I mentioned salad, there is a severe lacking of fruits and vegetables. Forget beans unless it is a soy bean. I go to Brazillian stores and import shops to specifically for beans.

ps~You ever tried eating corn with f'ing chopsticks?

[botynation]

write more Please!! and no i have not tried ieatign with chop sticks...well atleast not corn...

[Suki]

Eating seafood for lunch and... at school? It's funny how the whole food thing works in each country. In England they eat toasts and tea non-stop and no matter what time of the day it is, in the States it's all about fried stuff. I'd starve myself rather than eat bacon and eggs for breakfast =/ and the Japanese... I like all types of rice dishes and ramen but I couldn't survive for long on Japanese food >.<'

I've heard of melon flavoured bread before, wanna try it but I don't know where I can get one from... and I'm not one for cooking so xD

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

if you don't like the food or worse are a vegetarian I guess you're screwed.

But... isn't there a law that says that every school must provide a vegetarian alternative meal when requested? If not, they should allow them to bring their own food from home.

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

ps~You ever tried eating corn with f'ing chopsticks?

I have! When I went to Paris there was a Japanese convention at the hotel I was staying at, and for about 3 days they served Japanese food in the morning ^^ So yeah, I used chopsticks to pick up food, and I had almost every Japanese person in the room stare at me, probably struggling not to laugh out loud xDDDDDD

[jasonbvr]

Yeah, they do have to provide food for the vegetarians or allow them to bring it from home. The thing is, I've never seen a vegetarian student. The only vegetarians I know have been ALT's and they start out bringing their own food, but eventually most of them convert to pescetarians (fish eaters) so they can at least eat most of the lunch.

Eating corn with hashi (sticks) is a pain because you can only get a few kernels at a time. I am used to spooning or forking down as much as I can in single bites.

Anyways, I will try to write more either today or next week. It really depends on how much lesson planning I get done today. But definitely I will be able to do so next week.

I'll leave you with a quickie:

As you know the students wear uniforms, but did you know that there is a specific day when they are allowed to start wearing there fall/winter versus there spring/summer uniform? When they change to the fall one, they are required to wear the jacket. If any kid is not wearing his jacket or pants properly, they have to have the permission of the teacher to do so.

(at junior high) On test, exam and special days throughout the year, the students have dress uniforms which are like the uniforms high schoolers wear everyday. Also on these days the teachers wear ties and slacks and the women dress business like as well. One thing that does not change though are the shoes. (as for the teachers) I don't care where you are in the world, do not ever wear tennis shoes with a suit and tie. If you are going to wear tennis shoes, make sure they are black, brown or dark grey. Basically any color other than white is a good idea. (the students) They all wear these little indoor slippers. I'm sorry, I just can't take anyone seriously if they are wearing white slippers with a black formal looking uniform on.

I will go into more detail about the appearance rules later. Right now, I have to crank out a worksheet or two for next week.

[jasonbvr]

ps~We have plenty of bacon in Japan. What I am lacking in the American breakfast department (this is only known to the southeast of the US) is grits. That rice cereal stuff comes close, but it can never replace grits with red-eye gravy.

[DesiredMess]

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

ps~We have plenty of bacon in Japan. What I am lacking in the American breakfast department (this is only known to the southeast of the US) is grits. That rice cereal stuff comes close, but it can never replace grits with red-eye gravy.

Ha, coming from Georgia I know grits well. Where I live now I can barely find it. It's really great reading your explanations on the Japanese school system. It's interesting...I can't imagine how they deal with being in school so many hours. It all seems so stressful.