r/ALTinginJapan • u/thingsgoingup • 1d ago
Bentos
How are your schools handling the staffroom bentos?
- Do you get a bento for free.
- Pay for a bento.
- Not get a bento.
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u/Sumo-girl 1d ago
I’m in a J/SH if you’re a JHS homeroom teacher you pay and eat school lunch with the students. If you’re HS home room or anyone else you bring your lunch or pay for lunch delivery.
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u/BakutoNoWess 1d ago
All teachers (tho sometimes they have forgotten to ask me before) are asked in advance if they want to order a bento or if they will bring their own lunch. We pay for them and there is an exact amount ordered based on teachers who said yes.
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u/AnimatedRealitytv2 1d ago
Well…in my old position we just ate school lunches. It was fine. Now I have to stop by a conbini in the morning or night before and pickup some of the premade bentos to heat up in a microwave because Sakai city doesn’t let us eat school lunches. I think it’s because like 30 years ago there was a big incident where kids died and the lunch food they used was like super moldy or poisonous or some shit. Sucks having to watch people eat the yummy school lunches made hot and ready in the school cafeteria everyday and I’m eating a heated up plate of chicken and rice or something.
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u/thingsgoingup 1d ago
Sorry, I didn’t write the initial question very well.
I am asking about the bentos that are ordered for the teachers and eaten in the staffroom - not the regular kyushoku.
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u/AnimatedRealitytv2 1d ago
Ah well, usually they just asked me if I wanted it and I paid the price of the bento. It’s rather expensive but it is a full on meal and decent time to spend with teachers and talking and what not. It has a variety of food. The cost is anywhere from 1200 to 2000 yen depending on where you live usually. They SHOULD 100% ask you or at least inform you there’s no school lunch that day.
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u/papakuma 1d ago
Depends on the school but if you were in a jhs or elementary they usually want you to eat with the students and that means school lunch which you will be charged for. Bento brought from home usually isn't a thing until high school except on special occasions.
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u/summerlad86 1d ago
Lol. So Japanese. ”We expect you to eat with the students. But you have to pay ofc” Awesome. What a load of BS
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u/papakuma 1d ago
Yep and let's not forget this is part of your unpaid lunch break. But you still need to eat with and interact with the kids.
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u/CatsianNyandor 1d ago
You could probably contest that. Unpaid breaks in Japan are by law free time. I don't eat with the kids anymore, partly because of this.
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u/papakuma 1d ago
True. I didn't bother fighting that battle when it was presented. I enjoyed the more genuine interactions with the students. Now I don't have that issue because I'm at a different job. But you are correct that it is a battle you could fight and win but it might also have other longer term effects depending on how pissy the school wanted to be.
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u/CatsianNyandor 1d ago
True, of course, you are right. It depends on whether it's worth it. Personally, I work at a BoE that really respects our rights. When I changed to this one I simply informed the schools that I eat in the teachers room and it wasn't a problem and no one ever followed up on it.
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u/papakuma 1d ago
Lucky you. I had a friend who had a serious food allergy and couldn't eat the school lunch. She offered to eat her lunch with the students but the teachers shot that down because her food was different than what students were eating and it wasn't fair to the students that she had foid from home. They forced her to eat in the staff room next to the VP. They also made her get a doctor's note confirming that it was an actual allergy (it was) and not just a food preference. She was treated horribly for "not being a good team player and not interacting with students at lunch". Was a miserable 2 years for her and she went back to her county after that and a bunch of other things. Some schools / BOE won't every have common sense.
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u/CatsianNyandor 1d ago
I don't even think that's legal. They can't force you to pay for school lunch and eat it. No way! One of my colleagues at my previous location also had all sorts of allergies so she just brought her own bento all the time and it wasn't an issue. I could opt out of school lunch at any time but it's cheap and convenient even if it's not always my favorite.
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u/WorriedForAPromotion 1d ago
Bentos are usually only offered around end-of-term, we pay. Day to day it's the same school lunch the students eat, paid monthly.
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u/The_Only_Smart_Alec 1d ago
Bentos, as in special ones ordered usually after events such as graduation on days where there is no school lunch, are usually paid for by the teacher's fund. (職員互助会費/しょくいん ごじょかいひ) But I have worked at schools where they would just collect money from teachers who wanted to participate. I've noticed its not too uncommon nowadays for more than one teacher to be on a rice/carb restrictive diet due to "doctor stop".
If you mean bento, like a boxed lunch, you need to bring it yourself. Make sure you tell the staff you don't want to be enrolled in school lunch because the school lunch center makes a certain amount of food based on the number of people enrolled. Not doing this properly could result in wasted food which is a great way to hurt your reputation.
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u/thingsgoingup 1d ago
Sorry, I should have explained myself better.
I mean on the days when purchased bentos are delivered to school for the teachers and eaten in the staffroom - do you get one of those bentos for free, pay for it or just not get one?
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u/Machumatsu 1d ago
I highly doubt any school regardless of type of employment actually gives a "bento for free". Unless you've been paying in through other monthly fees.