Japanese Lunch (Bento)

Making a lunch for your child in Japan is not very easy if you are a foreigner. In the states we take sandwiches, chips, cookies, fruit, leftover suppers etc. In Japan, it seems to be an art to how lunches are prepared. They call their lunch 'bento.' Which sort a means 'lunch box.' Almost every bento includes rice, if no rice then a bread of some sort. There is a certain lunch box used, and for the food there are certain colors, order, and things that are included in the bento. I haven't quite figured that one out yet, but hopefully soon. Below I will show some photos of bento's and my feeble attempts at creating them for my lunches at the Pre-School. 

First attempt at a homemade bento.

Normally the lunch box is wrapped up in a handkerchief of some sort and placed in a lunch bag.

I finally bought a real bento box 

I've been taking leftovers and sometimes buying pre-made meats and sushi rolls for my bento. You can pack a lot of food inside these small lunch boxes and maybe it's my American appetite but I'm usually still a little hungry!!

What a Japanese bento should look like:

What I wish my lunches could look like :)

Picture Post of Recent Happenings

Greetings from Japan!! Not too much change here since returning home from Christmas break. But we wanted to post some pictures:

Building a fort

Out with friends!!

Ena and her daughter Luna.

Helping Dad do computer stuff at the Pre-School.

First chocolate chip cookie.

Sleeping guy!!

Enjoying some ice cream at the mall.

David calls this picture, "The tractor ran out of gas."

And this happened!! 

Ladies prepping the yummy food for the Valentine's Day International Cafe.

International Cafe.

Pre-School students.

Some of David's students.

Two of David's adult students.

Okonomiyaki. A cabbage based dish that could have anything from octopus, pork, shrimp, noodles, egg or other meats. It varies in style from location to location in Japan. 

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts for us as we work and live Shimonoseki.