Lunch

Everyday at about 11:30, the central area erupts with noise.  The teachers take stacks of little plastic chairs and tables and drop them into rows.  The classes get dismissed one at a time, the students wash their hands in the bathroom, and then race to their designated rows.  The food is rolled out on a two-tiered cart in big metal bowls.  There’s rice, a couple of dishes, and soup.  The adults serve out the food into smaller metal bowls, while a few students from each class distribute the bowls.  It seems like a big production everyday to serve food to the 260 students, but they manage. Throughout all of this, the students are chatty and they are sitting in close quarters, but there is never any fighting.  The kids seem to know the boundaries of acceptable behavior.  As they finish their rice, they can get soup.  When they finish eating, they help to stack the chairs and tables.  A few students get brooms and sweep the area clean.  It all works like clockwork.  By noon, the students are in their classrooms doing work, while the teachers have their lunch.  

The rows of tables and chairs

The adults portion the food into bowls, while a few students distribute the bowls to the others.

A happy pre-schooler,  named Ming Ling, who is the daughter of one of the teachers

Second graders waiting for their food.  You can see their uniforms.  The girls have red plaid and the boys have blue plaid.

Upper graders chowing down