A Little Extra Bento Goes a Long Way

Last year, I started working occasionally at a kindergarten I had not been to before and in a city where I haven't worked in more than a decade.

It's bigger and busier than the kindergarten where I usually work these days. Having done this job for more almost twenty years, I wasn't exactly nervous that I wasn't doing a good job or capable of delivering a quality lesson to the kids there, but you never know if you are catching on well at a new place. Couple my naturally high levels of social awkwardness and anxiety with almost any new social experience and we have a recipe that could well lead to disaster.

When we add in the Japanese tendency to be overly polite to the point where I can't tell there's a problem or so direct that even I see it as rude and honestly I'm a little surprised I can still work here.

And then I have days like this. They didn't buy me a bento on purpose but they had extra so they offered me one with the idea that I would bring back the container, washed and empty, next week.

It was a small thing and on the surface just to avoid wasting food, but it still meant a lot to me. Giving food in Japan seems a pretty good indication of appreciation