What's for lunch? Rice?

Now that I'm in my second year of teaching and have eaten literally thousands of school lunches in my lifetime, I feel that I am a bit of a connoisseur. My nose is well trained to smell even the slightest burning of meat loaf. Last year I used to get excited on pizza Friday's and lament the Hamburger Helper that was served on Wednesday's. Now, there is no schedule, there is no variety and I know the cuisine will always include one ingredient: Rice.

Before I arrived here, I was reading my trusty travel book. It said that rice IS the main course and the rest of it was just "filler". That's true. I have never been a big rice eater. I thought it was bland and I intentionally would stay away from it. Now, I eat it everyday. Luckily I only eat it once a day, whereas the typical Korean will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's a lot of rice! So my lunch consists of a whole lot of things I can't pronounce and usually don't eat. Don't get me wrong, I tried them all and decided that they were not for me. The lunch, like last year, is brought to the room by the ajumeoni. That's the word for a middle-aged or old woman. They are the helpers and cooks and janitors and everything else. So it arrives on a tray and usually includes six dishes. Each dish is in a metal container. The biggest one is of course the rice. Then they'll have a very small portion of meat (chicken or fish), Kimchi (spicy cabbage), tofu, soup and a bunch of other odd things. I eat the rice, soup, tofu, Kimchi, and the meats. It's wholesome, it's tasty and, unfortunately, I'll be eating the same thing everyday until next July.

Last year, kids seemed to be a lot pickier with what they would and wouldn't eat. The Korean kids will eat it all with no complaints. They love it and even though they eat the same stuff all the time, they'll usually ask for seconds. I don't know how they do it and all I know is that I would never ask for seconds.

I am grateful for the free meal though. I just hope I don't come home loving rice.