Korean Cafeteria Food for Kids

My first day at the elementary school I was about to become an English teacher for the next year, was quite overwhelming. I arrived at my new room a little after midnight after leaving Newark, NJ, USA at 9:28a.m. the day before. The cabdriver they had pick me up at the airport brought me directly to my room from Incheon International Airport. The ride took about 80 minutes which I think I fell asleep briefly from the excitement twice. He could not find my room when we got here but eventually he was able to find it. A well-dressed, attractive young woman employee from the nightclub down street helped him. I thought it was interesting that my initiation to Korea was founded on a nightclub girl who looked at me slyly like she already had dibs on me. So far, I have not stepped foot in that club to hunt her down.

As I opened the door to my room to walk in, the taxi driver who spoke minimal English immediately stopped me and pointed to my shoes and the lowered space by the door for me to take them off before entering. I forgot! There was a hand written note informing me that my manger will be by at 11:00a.m. to take me to school. By the time I showered, shaved and unpacked a few things, it was near 3:00a.m. My small studio apartment has a main room with a metal sink, and counter next to the double gas burners across from the half-sized fridge. There is a desk for me to work at and a tiny mounted table to eat at with two chairs with yellow metal backs and soft cushions for my butt. The bathroom has everything necessary but no actual tub or separate area for the shower. It is just another part of the bathroom in general.

After just a few hours of sleep, I woke due to the heat and noise of the city. I crawled out of bed, exhausted but even hungrier than tired. I wandered around the neighborhood full of small shops, private English schools and many places to eat until I gave up trying to figure out what anything is before ordering. I purchased a nice little portion of greens in a red chili sauce from a take-out place with a mother in daughter inside preparing the food and quickly went home to eat before meeting my new manager that the note stated I should not be late. The food was hot, spicy and delicious and forecasted what kind of foods I would be eating accurately.

She showed up on time, smiled half-heartedly and asked, “Are you ready to go?’ as if I had a choice.

I said quickly and professionally, “Yes, just let me get my stuff. How far do we have to go?”

“Just a few blocks, the school is very close”. Four and a half blocks to be exact, directly across from the police department and a small park with a basketball court. Upon arriving at the school, my manger directed me to a series of “Cubby-holes” and lifted the third one from the right on the top row and said, “You can take your shoes off and use the visitor slippers for today.” I put on a pair of soft, comfortable brown slippers with Korean writing on the outside. Like she did at my room, she hurried me along to meet my co-worker in the after-school homework program. Which I did, along with the principle, vice-principle and the school’s English teacher. I did not recall any of their names or anything else. Fortunately, I was saved by my favorite words in life spoken from my new manger, “Are you hungry?” Those magic words that solve everything in life for me.

The school cafeteria was full of bustling kids grabbing trays with little metal dividers built-in and large canisters stuffed with metal chopsticks and soupspoons. I watched and followed what everybody else was doing. When we got to the front of the line, my tray was filled with large quantities of Kim chi, white rice, a yellow fruit sliced thinly and a seafood soup and a compartment with a pile of spaghetti. My first real meal in Korea included spaghetti with a tomato sauce, pretty funny for an Italian guy from New Jersey, USA. Everything was delicious, even the Korean-Italian spaghetti.

I have eaten at our school cafeteria since then. Every meal consists of rice, Kim chi, a vegetable or fruit, fresh soup and something else. It is interesting to me that these elementary school children eat a more balanced and healthy meal then almost the entirety of American adults, forget about the kids. They make the food fresh every morning with the clanging if huge pts and pans with the women in the kitchen hurriedly preparing actual real food for these kids every day. There are no other choices except the one meal like there is in America, they all finish their meals and smile while eating, laughing and talking with their friends. There is no fighting, casing trouble or anything else. They are too busy enjoying their meal. Outside of the amazed stares at “the foreigner”, they eat, laugh and talk. What a great recipe for children learning and growing mentally, physically and spiritually.

Let’s do a quick nutrition analysis of Korean versus American school cafeteria food:
Frozen generic seafood sticks ------- fresh squid, crab and clam soup
Frozen fried chicken -------------------fresh chicken soup with a chicken leg in every bowl
White iceberg lettuce with a few slivers of carrot and a pale tomato------ Fresh Kim chi
Minute-made rice--------- actual rice
Canned and processed Campbell’s soups----------fresh sop complete with vegetables and chicken, pork or seafood made daily

It is hard for me to imagine why American schools feed children the food they do. Who came up with theory that kids will only eat food bad for them that is completely de-natured? What are we doing to our children?