Lunch time musings

 

One thing I really dislike about school life here is the lunch time. Lunch time is fixed at 1210-1300h so almost everyone would try to have their meals during this time. Although we have two cafeterias and one small cafe, these are extremely crowded during lunch. There are other options such as the convenience store in school, and the food kiosks set up around school grounds to sell bento sets and convenience foods. However, long queues are a common sight too.



Students queuing to buy food from a food kiosk set up outside the cafeteria.

 





A simple lunch prepared on the late night of
27 Sep for lunch on the following day. 

I have classes before and after lunch and I really don't like to rush through my meal. From the onset, I made the decision to bring my lunch from home.  To my own surprise, I actually managed to keep that up for one whole semester. Last semester, I prepared my lunch in the morning just before going to class and it was often a mad rush. I subsequently learnt from school mates that they would prepare their lunch the night before. So for this semester, I am adopting this new practice.

 

A quiet lunch in the classroom.

The school recognises the problem of crowding in the cafeterias and classrooms are open for students to use during lunch. Hence, it is a common sight to see students bring their trays of food from the cafeterias to eat in classrooms.

 

I usually spent lunch time in the classroom as well, away from the crowds.  Last semester, I had a few classmates who would do the same and we would chat as we ate during lunch time. This semester, the new classmates seemed to prefer eating among the crowds.

 

While I still sat at my favourite corner of the classroom eating my shoddily prepared lunch, the people who used to share that time with me were not in the seats where they used to be.  I wonder if they thought of me back home just as I thought of them while I was eating my lunch.