Little fish

There are some things you simply can`t be prepared enough for.

A example of this is kyushoku- the school lunch provided in elementary and middle schools that you eat in the classroom.

Usually, I think they are fine. Not exactly my favorite foods, but I can deal with it.

Well, except for one thing.

Today was the second day I came across it.

Small fish fried whole.

I really want to be able to just suck it up and eat it, but I can never eat more than one or two of the bunch that I am given. First of all, eating something whole like that is really unfamiliar to me. Secondly, it doesn`t even really taste that good to me. As much as I want everyone to be impressed that this foreigner would eat anything, I keep having to draw the line with that and another food that I will not mention (I have mentioned it and I`ve learned my lesson).

Anyway, so I was in the teacher`s room today, just waiting for the time to go to a classroom to eat, and the principal and vice principal were already eating. I was attempting to psych myself up for eating the fish and failing horribly when one of them turned to me and asked perfectly seriously-

"Is rice okay?"

Today`s lunch was rice, miso soup, and those fried fish. And of all those things, he thought I`d have trouble with the rice!

I was actually asked if rice was okay one other time that day, too.

And I had to explain that I have, indeed, used chopsticks in the US.