Reflections on School Canteens: A Journey Through Memories and Lessons
Sharing Personal Favorites: A Memorable Lunch Experience
One memory is particularly vivid from my younger days, especially when my brother and I were still pre-teens. At lunchtime, everyone seemed to have a packed lunch from home, and we all gathered together on the playground for a friendly meal. However, there was one boy named Joe Glen who came from a financially struggling home and couldn't afford a packed lunch. My brother reported this issue to our mother, who would then pack an extra lunch for Joe each day so that we could secretly slip it to him whenever possible.
The Authentic Academic Experience in Germany
Unlike the full-time day school experience many would envision, our school had a unique schedule in Germany. By around 1pm, most of the academic lessons were completed, and we had the rest of the day dedicated to making up for the lessons and additional activities. School generally started at 7:30am, even on days when the sun rose late, around 8:30am or even later when it was cloudy. On weekday afternoons, we had the option to do some extracurricular sports until 2pm, or alternatively, we had to attend voluntary study projects until the evening.
The closest we came to a school canteen experience was during school excursions and camps, held annually from Monday to Friday. We lived in a residence shared with another high school, managed by a strict warden, whom we later suspected might have had a connection to the Nazi regime. His strictness was reminiscent of a concentration camp commandant, and by today's standards, he would not be suitable for working with youth.
Memories of the School Residence
The food served in the canteen was of a standard that was barely acceptable. Dinner was typically slices of bread with cheese, salami, or a spreadable liverwurst. It was deemed impolite and even "unpolite" to return uneaten food, as the warden said, "You kids have never experienced war and hunger. Too spoilt." Due to this, we started to find ingenious ways to deal with the liverwurst-spread bread. We exchanged these slices below the table and bonded over them, especially if they contained a lot of fatty moisture to keep the bread together.
The warden suggested we should be more active and wear pullovers and warm jackets to help the "magic glue power" of the liverwurst-spread bread remain active. On Saturday mornings, after we finished playing and socializing, the warden would send a protest letter to our principal. By lunchtime, the first slices would start to drop as the elderly warden wasn’t agile enough to catch them. The silent home would seem invaded by autumn leaves everywhere, and observers might have thought invaders landed to pounce out on them.
Fortunately, there was a change in principal at our school, and the new principal had a good laugh at the whole situation. We were never disciplined for our unconventional lunch-sharing methods.
Nutritional Education and Reflections
From an educational perspective, the food served in our canteen was not particularly appealing. The cheapest rye bread was used, with no green stuff or chopped gurkin, and the "muck" (likely liverwurst) was spread on quickly. Due to religious aspects, it's unlikely that schools or community groups would serve such food these days, given that the pork-based products are less suitable.
These experiences provided a vital lesson in the value of sharing and the importance of empathy, two crucial skills that stay with us through life. Despite the less-than-ideal canteen experience, the shared meals with Joe and the unconventional bond formed with the warden's less-than-pleasant liverwurst-spread bread taught us valuable lessons about tribulations and community.