Thank God it’s obento Friday

Source: Stripes Okinawa

Story and Photos by William Stroud

For lunch, children at Kadena Elementary School recently feasted on a sautéed and steamed kelp, dried "daikon" radish and “sanma,” a saury fish simmered in broth. It wasn’t a fieldtrip. The traditional Japanese fare was served up right here at school.

Every other Friday is special at Kadena. It has the only Japanese Partial Immersion program in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools Okinawa District. That means “obento,” that neatly packaged box lunch with rice and any number of Japanese delicacies.

Sally Wilkerson’s fourth grade class is just one in which pupils and one of their parents pair up to learn the local culture and language through a variety of activities. But obento Friday is clearly a hit with everyone.

For chopstick master Justin, it is his third year. For others, like Jordan, it is their introduction year. “I like the language and the culture,” she quickly said between bites. Corina bragged, “I can write my name and I love the fieldtrips.”

For Erica, obento day is a family event with father Sam, mother Kristy and younger sister Samantha all digging in. Sam and Kristy brimmed with enthusiasm. “She’s learning so much and I just hope she can teach us,” said Kristy. "After all, we’re in Japan and there’s no reason not to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Insun is from South Korea and her daughter Nuree is also in attendance. They take Japanese conversation classes. The program is outside the purview of the normal foreign language studies and is geared more toward exposure and enrichment than language proficiency. It serves as a nice addition to students’ regular academic studies.

“We teach them to introduce themselves,” Wilkerson says. “We do the calendar together and we have a lot of mingling activities when Japanese students come to visit.”

Seth Renquist, who studied Japanese in college and taught for a year at a Japanese school, had his fifth grade class enjoy their obento out on the lawn. His and Wilkerson’s are among six of the school’s immersion classes, explains principal Stan Hays.

“We have one class in each grade, one through six,” he said. “We’re the only JPI (Japanese Immersion Program) on the island and a big reason is because it’s difficult to staff. To teach JPI, you not only have to be a fully qualified elementary school teacher, but you also have to pass a very tough Japanese proficiency exam.

“Another hurdle is the constant rotation of families,” he adds. “Ideally, we’d like to have a child in the program for the full three years of the sponsor’s tour. To do that, we have to be flexible and creative with the way we let kids in the program.”

The program appears to be working. The children were proud to share all the things they learned. Not surprisingly, however, none offered to share their obento.