tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435307739861517349.post1182278181955784189..comments2023-03-27T01:01:23.237-07:00Comments on Hafu-Life: Lunchbox べんとう (弁当)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435307739861517349.post-58622932388053929112007-05-22T08:06:00.000-07:002007-05-22T08:06:00.000-07:00When I was an older student...around grade 6, I st...When I was an older student...around grade 6, I started making my own lunches. (for earlier grades I wasn't in Canada and had school lunches). In my part of Canada students made their own lunches. I got tired of sandwiches so I often brought soup or alfalfa sprouts and other things to put in my lunch bag. <BR/><BR/>I can't really remember my Mum ever making my lunch. She certainly didn't make bentos! (She was from Scotland so.....)Helenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00476943539943172099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435307739861517349.post-77553468166065598222007-04-13T08:35:00.000-07:002007-04-13T08:35:00.000-07:00Bento lunches rock. I SO love every single bento t...Bento lunches rock. I <I>SO</I> love every single bento that my students and coworkers have made for me. Hand made from the heart, I've even taken pictures of them and blogged about them. Every time I receive one it confirms my decision that Japan is the place for me!ritsukihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04816977908365214872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435307739861517349.post-82296796698728943382007-04-11T22:41:00.000-07:002007-04-11T22:41:00.000-07:00You might find this article of interest:http://www...You might find this article of interest:<BR/>http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2054078,00.htmlMikohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05410781872502597824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435307739861517349.post-40381934431475070732007-04-10T15:01:00.000-07:002007-04-10T15:01:00.000-07:00"Even if I had a sandwich, my mother would make la..."Even if I had a sandwich, my mother would make lady finger sandwiches, cut off all the crust, put it in a special container, separated by artificial "grass" and gave me a variety of sandwiches because I might get bored with just one type."<BR/><BR/>Yep, nodding, nodding! That's exactly what my beautiful lunchboxes were like. I especially love the way she used to pack everything into that small lunchbox so carefully, the packing is an art in itself! <BR/><BR/>Having said that, I never bother with doing that sort of thing for my son. If I want to show my love for him, I tell him that I love him. No ambiguities there, he *knows* how I feel. (Although I bet he wishes I was more like other Japanese mothers sometimes.)Mikohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05410781872502597824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4435307739861517349.post-80176994601860303742007-04-09T18:13:00.000-07:002007-04-09T18:13:00.000-07:00I think there are a wide variety of cultural reaso...I think there are a wide variety of cultural reasons why American mothers don't make the elaborate lunches that Japanese mothers do. For one thing, kids in the U.S. don't appreciate that sort of thing. If a stay-at-home mother were to put all that effort into it, she'd probably end up with a kid who not only wouldn't care at all but would fail to eat a lot of it. Kids in the U.S. aren't raised on the same sort of food diversity that Japanese kids are raised with.<BR/><BR/>Also, Americans don't attach much pride or accomplishment to food preparation. Spending all that time on a lunch for a kid who doesn't care wouldn't be the mother's first choice for displaying her creativity or pampering her child. <BR/><BR/>Finally, and this is a rather subjective and uninformed observation, it seems Japanese mothers are more "into" their kids than American mothers. American people, in general, tend to segment their lives into "mother", "wife", and "myself". Western parents tend to want to have pursuits that are purely for development in a fashion which gratifies their own ego and spend time on such pursuits. Japanese mothers tend to find the same (or higher)gratification from the consolidated role of "wife/mother". This is probably because Japanese culture values women who do not work and U.S. culture, to some extent, feels that women who live only as mothers/wives are limited and dull.<BR/><BR/>The need to spend time on one's own pursuits to feel like a whole person in the U.S. undermines the time a mother can spend on doing things like preparing elaborate meals for their kids.Sharihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17419851636570519145noreply@blogger.com