Cafeteria Food Is Good For You!

I work offsite two days a week at a client's factory with some exceptions every now and then.  My station there is a simple and utilitarian office equipped with a desk, computer, printer, bookcase and amenities such as a water boiler (that's what one company calls the product - it's one of those gadgets you put water in, the machine boils it and keeps it at a set temperature for later use), an air conditioner (alas, there isn't one in the adjoining classroom) and an electric fan.  I get my lunch and dinner in the company cafeteria.  Getting there involves navigating a few turns, stairs, a walkway and a T-junction with emergency exit arrows on the floor pointing out in all three directions (in other words, in an emergency, if you're hurrying towards that T-junction you are going the wrong way no matter what your direction of approach is).   The cafeteria is plain and minimalist.  I don't believe the design has been changed since the building was erected in the late 1960s.  There is no decor to speak of aside from a few posters (one has Pikachu of Pokemon fame promoting healthy food choices).  The food they serve falls into the classification of good grub for the (subsidized) price you're paying.

Generally I can identify what it is I'm buying.  The usual menu choices are noodles and a meal set with rice, miso soup and a side dish.  Some of the side dishes fall outside my scope of Japanese food knowledge.  None of them are too exotic.  The situation isn't like what I've experienced in some onsen (Japanese hot spring/spa) hotels where they'll serve a side dish which looks really attractive but I'm unable to describe or identify it.  There is a table which you encounter upon entering the cafeteria where photographs of each menu item are shown along the item's name and the number of calories per serving.  So I feel some assurance that there is some degree of health consciousnesses going into their menu planning.  The weekly healthy eating quiz cards that get put on each table reinforce that feeling.  All in all, I've never walked into the cafeteria and upon seeing the menu choices, said to myself, "I'm NOT going to have that dish" (though I do avoid the wonton ramen because their wonton dumplings are not particularly exciting).

On a bit of a tangent, last month one of my junior high school students asked me about a certain dish which I later found out is served in a couple of school cafeterias in Yonezawa: cheese natto.  When she first directed the question "Do you like cheese natto?" at me, I didn't quite catch what the name of the dish was.  Once I got clarification, my expression turned to one that was a mixture of horror and distaste.  Don't get me wrong, I like natto enough to eat it semi-regularly.  I've even come up with a quick recipe that utilizes natto, chopped onions, ground pork and a dash of soy sauce.  But cheese and natto...that combination is one which never had crossed my mind.  Any ways, since I had never eaten the dish I quickly asked my student if she liked it.  Her answer was a blunt "No".  The two students who go to another junior high school said they had never heard of it.  I canvassed my other junior high school level class and two of the students said it was served at their school but they didn't like it either.  Interesting.

The subsequent information I got out of my student was that the dish does indeed mix natto and cheese.  It's a main dish and if I recall correctly, it's served with rice and, I presume, miso soup.  I was informed that the cheese is some kind of generic white cheese that has been rendered into a sauce-like form.  Upon hearing that, my mind quickly skipped over to a scene from the movie "Das Boot" where two sailors are verbally sparing over bad food references.  I don't know why.  I suppose the German equivalent of "baby barf" (or something similar) was the first reference I could dig up for a dish that sounded so distinctly unappetizing and unappealing.  When I described the dish to the mother of one of my students, she said it sounded kind of good.  My student and I both gave her bewildered looks.  We probably both shared the thought, "If you think it's good then you're welcome to it because we're not touching it".....

While Driving Back Home Today...

I had set my mind on going to the gym today by bicycle.  But I managed to leave myself too little time to go there by that means and give myself sufficient time to complete my workout.  So I ended up driving.  Unlike yesterday, I didn't treat myself to a creme brule McFlurry.  Instead I dropped in at the Gyosu Super and picked up some nuts, sauerkraut and made in India peanut butter.  In my opinion the latter is comparable to Skippy or Kraft peanut butter.
While I was stopped at a light on the way home I glanced in my rear view mirror and took notice of the occupants of a mini-van behind my car.  It wasn't the child bouncing around in the rear seat or the child seated in a child booster seat, which was mounted on the front passenger seat (I wonder if that is illegal back in B.C.?), which caught my attention.  It was the height of the driver.  It was a young woman and I could barely see her face over her dashboard.  The top of her steering wheel was level with the middle of her nose.  I thought to myself, "Well, she certainly has to be quite short".

A couple of blocks later I found myself waiting for a light in the right hand turn lane.  The mini-van was to my left.  I glanced over and saw why the woman looked so short...she was slouched down.   Her seat was reclined back to the point that her headrest was behind the door pillar.  I averted my eyes once the child in the booster seat caught sight of me.   As luck would have it, the police weren't stopped at that corner holding their "Traffic Safety" banner.  Though I doubt they would've batted an eyelash at the woman driving her mini-van in the same fashion as someone driving a high end sports car.  I suppose they would've had their eyes out for worse offenders...of what sort I'm not sure though.