School lunch - *NEW POLL!*

[Kev20]

Since we came back to school on Friday we've had two lunches that weren't that nice. I think they sanitized the kitchen and ruined everything!

[Jeff619]

I felt the same way the first time.  After about 2 weeks of forcing myself to eat kimchi (my school's kimchi is especially terrible) I did actually gag and had to pretend I was coughing/choking so no one would get offended.  It does get better, especially as you get used to the flavor palate, which is simple and straightforward, as there aren't a huge variety of tastes in Korean food.

That's too bad.  My coteachers and myself agreed that the kimchi at our school is better than any restaurant.  I actually miss eating that.  The worst thing I remember was they served the miyokuk (seaweed soup) on the first of every month.  I like most Korean food but really can't stomach that stuff.

[Rootleaf]

I have no complaints with my school's fare. Today was the standard rice, fish soup, kimchi, green stuff, and sausages. Not the best, but not bad. Sometimes we get pasta, chicken, and cake... with kimchi and rice. Kimchi and rice are givens, so get used to them now.

Remember that's nobody's forcing you to eat anything. Be honest with yourself and polite with others.

[2Aslan78]

I pay 3,000 won per meal! I actually like the food though...am I the only one?

Most likely.

The only foods my school serves are kimchi and rice. I refuse to even set foot in the cafeteria. 

[Soggybread]

I pay 3,000 won per meal! I actually like the food though...am I the only one?

I really enjoyed lunch, there was rice, kiimchi, soup and another two dishes I didn't know the name of.

I will eat about anything and enjoy it.

Hopefully future school lunches are like this one.

[scholes]

I was thinking about making a post like this during lunch, too. Today the food and the side dishes were not good at all. Moreover, the soup looked like the oily water in my pot(after cooking) after pouring water in it and boiling it to loosen the sticky parts so as to make it easier to clean.

Wasn't the best lunch and it's true what the j.a.w said. They will find it offensive if you don't eat it, but don't worry about that.

[nguyettn1]

im sorry to hear your lunch wasn't pleasant. i had my first cafeteria food today and thought it was amazingly good. However, my co-teacher and head master kept staring at me eat. Guess they were concerned whether i enjoyed my food or not.  They take it offensive if you just refuse to eat but if you just eat a little bit of rice, itll be okay. I'd have to admit some of the food takes time getting use to and the smell!

[taeyang]

i have hamburger steak tomorrow! can hardly wait 

today was spicy chicken - very delicious!

[sejongthefabulous]

Eat the lunch. It's 90% healthy, 95% delicious and 100% cheap. Not eating the lunch for whatever the reason won't gain you respect and may harm your reputation.

[K04]

Just do what you feel you need to do.  If you like the food then eat in the caf, if you don't like the food then opt out.  I stopped eating after 2 weeks of trying but the food was actually making me sick to my stomach.  No one took offense and they actually told me I don't have to eat the school food.  So it depends on the school, some take offense and some don't care.

[syd wegoda]

I think  it should be made clear that Korean food and the food served in Korean schools are two very different things. Korean school lunches are a very poor version of Korean food.
For example, since living in Korea I have grown a love for kimchi but I still can't the stand kimchi they use in schools. I find annoying that some people judge Korean food on what they eat at school.

[justanotherwaygook]

Eat the lunch. It's 90% healthy, 95% delicious and 100% cheap. Not eating the lunch for whatever the reason won't gain you respect and may harm your reputation.

3 servings of starch, all coated in salt does not make a healthy or delicious lunch.  And, it's not really that cheap considering what one gets.

Maybe your school has good lunch.  Some of us are not so lucky.

[Jrong]

Eat the lunch. It's 90% healthy, 95% delicious and 100% cheap. Not eating the lunch for whatever the reason won't gain you respect and may harm your reputation.

3 servings of starch, all coated in salt does not make a healthy or delicious lunch.  And, it's not really that cheap considering what one gets.

Maybe your school has good lunch.  Some of us are not so lucky.

STF, Delicious? What the f....?

Anyways, I guess it depends on your school. My school has one protein laden serving (tofu or meat) 3 out of 5 days a week. I just fill up on that serving and the veggies which are god-awful tasting but healthy, and throw out the other three servings which consist of various starches. Two out of five days a week I just eat some veggies and supplement w/ my own shake.

It does save me a huge stack because 3/5 days I eat A LOT of those veggies and meat. If I were to buy the amount of meat and veggies I eat 3/5 days in the caf it would amount to about $10 a meal easily. I only pay 2.50 a meal in the caf so it's worth it, for me at least. If your appetite isn't that big, though, it may just be worth it to byolunch.

Don't worry about your reputation, that's not going to ruin it -- what will ruin your reputation is constant bad gas after school meals. Kimchi farts will get your co-teacher looking for another office or a replacement. ;-)


 

[marchingocelot]

Shocking revelation ahead: we all work at different schools!

We all work at different schools with DIFFERENT cafeterias, DIFFERENT nutritionists, and DIFFERENT food! What a crazy, topsy-turvy world.

It's hilarious how this thread is full of enormous generalizations on the food available at schools based on sample groups of 1. My school, for example, has awesome food, my kids and coworkers are generally pretty happy with it, and so am I. However, I have friends who have terrible menus at their schools, ones that are roundly decried by everyone going there.

So, OP, you need to figure something out: does your school just have crappy food, or are you just not into Korean food? Both are strong possibilities. Give it a few days to see if you get used to it, but either way, if you really, really, absolutely cannot ingest it, opt out and bring a lunch.

[orangeman]

Where I grew up in Canada we didn't have school lunches, we brought our own.  In high school you could buy something from the cafeteria but everyone knows form an early age that caf food is terrible.  That's the joke.  In Korea, stating that you don't like something on the school menu is akin to declaring the whole peninsula trash and its inhabitants insects.  Just like how most people in the West know pop music is mindless but here it's a source of national pride.

I started at this new school last August and the first lunch I had here literally made me vomit, and I had been here for over 5 years previously.  At my last school the lunches were terrible but my principal and VPs were so controlling they would pound the slop onto my tray and demand that I eat it (I usually refused...I'm an adult).  After over a year of it I just started bringing my own stuff or running to Kimbap Chungguk.  That's the thing; I like a lot of Korean food, just not the slop they served in school.  At my new place it's really hit or miss, but it's generally much better (the vomiting notwithstanding).  We've even had chicken wings!  But I still avoid the soup (aka hot water with 5 lbs of salt and random bones floating around) and some days I just stick to rice and kimchi, although most days there's fresh fruit.  I'm also allergic to most seafood which gets me out of a lot of the ickiest meals.  Luckily for me I'm not normally hungry at noon, but later in the afternoon so I bring a snack for about 3pm and have dinner right when I get home. 

I second the suggestion of saying it's too spicy in order to get out of it.  That's what I did at my last school.  They all completely 'understood'.  Amazing my nightly stomachaches stopped after a week or so of not eating their slop.  Be gracious, but do what's best for yourself.  And bring snacks.

[Thanh.tran1128]

At my school, I have the option of leaving campus for lunch. Ask your school if you have that option. Although the food at my school isn't as appetizing, I can still enjoy it most of the time since I'm not picky at all with food and I happen to love korean food. However, the foreign teacher before me was a vegetarian and didn't like Korean food. He always went off campus to eat.

How about packing your lunch everyday? Can't go wrong with sandwiches and ramen :)

[whitesky00]

My school has a soup and rice with something everyday usually bibimbap? It's not too bad but not wonderful either I guess. Just got to get used to it.

[halpimcat]

You guys that say the food is bad are crazy. My lunch was frickin delicious, especially when you compare it with the crap they give students in the United States. You really couldn't get any worse in terms of both quality and nutrition at my old school.

[justanotherwaygook]

You guys that say the food is bad are crazy. My lunch was frickin delicious, especially when you compare it with the crap they give students in the United States. You really couldn't get any worse in terms of both quality and nutrition at my old school.

Really?

Have you been to every school are talked to a wide variety of teachers about what they're served?

How about a meal of rice, rice cake soup, potato wedges, acorn starch jelly and factory kimchi?  4 starches in one meal.  It's happened.  2-3 starches is not uncommon.

Or some rice, salt soup with a few leaves, some hard salty cold tofu, cold unseasoned bean sprouts and factory kimchi.  Maybe 2 chunks of pineapple or wedges of apple if we're lucky.

Sorry, but you're wrong.

[jimmyeatworldwar]

from what I saw and heard, school food just sucks..
but don't get me wrong,

I love korean food. I eat it almost everyday. school foods are never good anyway