Lunch Times with the Elementary Kids

Every week I eat lunch with a different class. The elementary schools have made and posted schedules to ensure that I rotate to all the classes. My preference is to have quiet, peaceful meal times, not eating with a bunch of noisy kids, but I’ve come to really enjoy lunch with the little kids (and it beats eating with and having awkward exchanges with the adults).

I was scheduled to eat with Muraoka-sensei’s fourth grade class. She’s been absent on medical leave, so Kano-sensei, has been substituting for her. Students set up their desks in clusters of four or six and eat lunch in the classroom. When I arrived, Kano-sensei asked a representative from each cluster to stand and they played a round of elimination janken (rock-scissors-paper) to decide which cluster I’d sit with. A girl from the winning cluster escorted me to my seat while a boy wiped down the desk with a dubious looking damp cloth. Kano-sensei announces to the class that I brought my own bento because I’m a vegetarian and I don’t eat meat. I’ve eaten with the class before. They know that, but all this is new to her, so she felt the need to announce it. Whatever. We sit down, clasp our hands and say “Itadakimasu,” in unison and dig in.

A girl from a faraway cluster starts hopping up and down and shouting “Sensei, sensei!” When I look up, she asks, “Yasai wa ichiban nani desu ka?” (What’s your favorite vegetable?) I say the first thing that comes to mind, “Ninjin desu” (carrot). She makes a big surprised O with her mouth and turns to report the information to her cluster. Two minutes later, “Sensei, sensei!” I answer, “Hai?” The hopping makes her pigtails bounce up and down. “Hrutsu wa ichiban nani desu ka?” I think for a moment and respond, “Pineapple desu.” Again, the surprised face and excited reporting to the cluster. I don’t know who was more pleased, her for managing to talk to me despite not sitting with her cluster, or me for understanding and properly answering her questions.

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There’s an adorable little boy who reminds me so much of my nephew, Casey, when he was that age. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but there’s something about his impish smile, button nose and round face that reminds me of him. Last time I had lunch with his class, I was placed with his cluster, so I got to talk with him and the other four kids. “Namae wa nan desu ka (what’s your name)?” I asked him. “Keishi desu,” he anwered. I nearly fell off the chair.

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Lunch with the first graders: Yushi leans over the desk trying to get a look at my food and asks what I’m eating. I answer, “Ingen, ninjin, tofu, gohan (green beans, carrots, tofu, rice).” Yushi’s neighbor who has been listening, exclaims, “Nihongo, jyozu (your Japanese is good)!” And gives me a round of applause. I sit there grinning like I really did something. Thanks, kid.  

January 1, 2020