I thought it was beef.

Just let me say that straight off.

I. Thought. It. Was. Beef.

So yesterday I was talking to my neighbor, also a JET, and we were discussing our normal complaints about the school lunch, mainly that its too much to eat in too short a time. She told me how on that day, they had some extra chewing beef, beef that was cooked or fried too much because it was really dark, almost black, and that for once no one was able to finish their lunch on time due to the extra amount of time needed to chew.

We chuckled over it, moved on to other topics, and I promptly forgot the conversation.

Until today, when I went to my elementary school, and I saw that lunch was some very dark, almost black meat. Huh! I thought to myself, this must be the beef Kelly had.

Anyway I go to the class I’m eating lunch with (3rd and 4th graders today) sit at the desk they have for me, and proceed to eat my lunch. Just as my neighbor stated, the beef was very chewing. It also tasted a little…odd.

Not bad by means, just unlike any beef I had ever tasted before. It was chewing and a but crunchy, and had…more of a tangy kick than the beef I was used to.

Interesting! I thought to myself, it must be the sauce. For there was a molasses-texture like seasoned sauce that the meat was all but drowning in. That combined with the fact that it must be burnt, given the color, explained the taste.

Throughout my musing and eating, my kids are trying hard to make conversation with me, (since when they’re in elementary school, they have no qualms with talking and eating at the same time), but are rapidly running out of questions to ask me. Now it just so happens that on that day, I had just had a lesson where I taught them the names of animals, one of them being “cow”. So as the questions dwindled, I thought to myself, now is an excellent time to bring a little lesson into lunch! I’ll ask what the meat is, they’ll say its beef. I’ll ask what animal is beef, and they will either look at me blankly, say “chicken”, or say cow either in Japanese or in English. Either way I can either praise or gently correct them, and it can be a nice way to bring the lesson full circle.

And so, feeling all nice and pleased with my teacher ways (I’m finally getting the hang of it!) I point to the last couple of pieces of meat on my plate and ask, “what’s this?”

And all 12 students announce, in Japanese, as one,

“It’s whale.”

Whale.

As in whale.

Like it’s no big deal.

Whale, in the school lunch.

You have your rice, you have your veggies, you have your soup, and you have your whale.


…Well.

I hope Greenpeace isn’t reading this.