ごちそうさまでした!

or Gochisosama-deshita!

This is something that is often said after a meal as a way of saying "Thank you for the delicious food"!

It is the opposite of the more widely known いただきますor " itadakimasu!" Which is said at the beginning of a meal.

So one of the questions I often get is what about lunch? What do you eat/do for lunch?

Well actually it depends on which school I am located that day. My JHS does not have a school lunch that all the kids get. Everyone more or less brings their own lunch. However there is a bento that the teachers can order. 

My JHS school desk with my ordered bento.
Please note: you do note keep the box.

A picture of today's bento and rice.

 Now these bento's may look delicious and sometimes that is quite the case; however I need to warn you that the order for these is placed at 9am and they are often here by 10 and they wait around cooling for the next two and a half hours, making the meal on the cooler side. This is actually normal. Many of the students wake up and prepare their meals early in the morning thus by the time they can eat them they have cooled; therefore this taste is acquired since childhood. Thus making the warmest thing during my meal often my tea...which I suppose it would be regardless.
On a side note, one addition that is quite common is a type of flavoring for the rice. Whether it is dried vegetables and eggs or a type of seed they put on it, I find that many of my coworkers enjoy flavoring their rice with something. I have it actually pictured in the first picture - it is the green packet.

However it is more common for the teachers to bring their own lunches, which I do as well so that my leftovers don't go to waste!

Elementary school lunch
This is more often served with silverware.

 Above is my elementary school lunch. These always consist of a main meat containing dish which seems to be often some kind of thick stew, a vegetable or fruit dish and a grain. Typically I most meals are accompanied by bread, but on an odd day I actually got rice as seen above. These meals are also accompanied by cold milk. Now the cold part is optional, my Interac mentors have told me the horror stories of having warm milk for lunch; therefore I count my blessings that it is cold.
Until lately I have been eating these meals in office, but have since my lunchtime presence has been demanded by my students for their eating entertainment.

One of the things that I sometimes get asked as well is if I can go to a convinience store to get something to eat. Well I think that it is for the most part considered not as polite to leave school, even during lunch time, unless it is for a genuine issue with something like the post office or bank that must take place during their business hours. Now that is not to say that is it not acceptable to eat convinience store food at work....it is ENTIRELY acceptable. Just buy it beforehand.

Here are a few more lunch time pictures to satisfy anyone's lingering curiosity.

 





For anyone who is curious as to the nutrition value of these meals, here is a bit of information for you.

These are the average values obtained in a study on the health content of the meals served at school two years ago.

Elementary school                    Junior High School

Calories: 628.1                       Calories: 781.7

Protein: 25g                           Protein: 30.7

Fat: 19.9g                               Fat: 23.6