Mrs. Todd’s Class ‘The Roadrunners’
are from North Carolina in the USA.
They have a blog called
‘Going Global as Rocky River’.
They are learning about other countries
and other cultures.
Hi there Roadrunners,
If any of you were coming to visit us here in Ireland,
the different way
we use English might make things a bit confusing.
If you asked for a scone this is what we would give you:
We would serve it with jam and cream.
By jam we mean jelly.
Mmm, this looks like raspberry.
If you asked for jelly, we would give you this;
poppet with a camera via Compfight
We call these crisps
Though we wouldn’t eat them with a knife and fork,
we might put them in a sandwich.
We call these chips:
unless we are in McDonald’s, in which case
we call them ‘french fries’.
We think it is interesting, that
although both the Irish
and the Americans speak English,
they speak if differently.
Click on this link if you want to read more
about the food we eat in Ireland.
We had a chance to discuss these foods today during a few classes. They were surprised by the differences. Now for some questions.
Do you have a lot of fast food (MacDonalds) type places to eat at ?
What do kids drink most of the time with their meals?
What is a typical school lunch like? Do kids bring lunch from home or buy lunch at school?
Do families set down together to eat or do they eat on their own schedules? Sometimes here the parents may work later or exercise and the kids may have sports or after school events which makes it harder to have a real family meal every night.
They were surprised by the beans for breakfast!
We always call the first thing a biscuit not a scone. We eat them mainly at breakfast with one or two of these items– jelly, ham, sausage, egg, bacon and cheese. You can have a biscuit later also but not as often.
Dear Roadrunners and Mrs.Todd,
Thank you for your questions. Fast food restaurants are very popular. In Greystones a fast food outlet is looking for planning permission to open beside a large school. A number of parents are unhappy about this because they feel students will have an unhealthy diet as a result. Other parents disagree and say that it should be there for treats and that students have to learn to pass fast food outlets by.
The students in our school are encouraged to drink water at lunch time. We are not allowed fizzy drinks. Many students drink fruit juice. In the winter some students bring hot chocolate or soup in flasks.
There is no place to buy lunch in school. Having a canteen in school is unusual in Ireland. Most students bring their lunches from home as that is better value. Some buy their lunch on the way to school. They might buy sandwiches or a bread roll filled with chicken or ham.
Children are encouraged to bring fruit or vegetables and a sandwich for lunch. We like fruit such as apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, raisins. We bring vegetables like cucumber or sticks of carrot. We have cheese, ham or chicken in our sandwiches most often.
Parents here feel it is important to have at least one meal a day where all the family sit round the table and find out what is happening in everyone’s lives. This is not normally breakfast as it is all so rushed. Usually it is the evening meal. If families can’t do this during the week, they try to do it at weekends, where things might be a little less busy. We can see that you have the same problem in North Carolina.
Thanks you for your questions.
Our favourite dinner is spaghetti bolognaise or pizza. We also like to eat roast chicken and potatoes? What is your favourite?
With every good wish,
Merry’s Class.