What were they thinking moment

This actually happened last week but I thought it was worth bringing up again to illustrate the extreme lengths the Shikaoi Board of Education goes through to provide innovative ground breaking school lunches. Last week's curry udon caps a long trend in Japan of curry soup. First becoming popular in Hokkaido more than five years ago, curry soup is basically watered downed curry without the rice. It's better than it sounds and the couple of times I've tried it it has always been good. School lunches are more institutionalized and we as teachers and students have become weary when something new appears on the menu. Our patience grows thin at being human guinea pigs. (What on Earth was the "white-sauce stew" about?) Curry Udon shows many of the same miscalculations: Udon noodles are thicker than both soba and ramen noodles given them surprising heft, they are not normaly included in curry soup, compound this with the fact the broth was of the most perfect consistency to maximize splatter meant this was by far the most messy lunch I have ever eaten. Every time one of the heavy noodles slipped from the smooth chopsticks it fell into the thick stain-producing broth with a satisfying "plop!" I happen to be sitting with a group of four grade ones and thus not only was the front of my shirt splattered but my arms were at risk of sauce bombs from neighbors as well. Putting our dishes away at the end of lunch we laughed noticing how messy the desks were. Left without a change of clothes, curry udon and dirty laundry continued to be the talk of the staffroom later. I wonder if we'll ever see the return of curry udon.