Me and My Lunch
12:40 UK time, Thursday, 14 August 2008
This week, the Magazine is looking at how readers spend their lunchtimes.
Following , which assessed why fewer of us are taking proper lunchbreaks, people have been telling us what they get up to in that precious 30 minutes or - if they're lucky - that hour.
THURSDAY: Katie Betts, 36, who works for an international tyre manufacturer in Cumbria, takes her huskies (Sola and Ciela, pictured) into work so she can walk them in her half-hour lunch break.
They stay in her van, which has a cooling system, but she only brings them to work if the weather isn't too warm. Come lunch, it's walkies in the Caldew River valley.
"I see a few other workers from other companies down by the river 'escaping' too but generally it is very peaceful.
"We watch the herons, buzzards, red kites, weasels, mice, and otters (occasionally) and it brings me back to reality and allows me breathing space with those that appreciate me not for targets, savings, volumes, scrap reduction and product quality but just for being with them enjoying life."
WEDNESDAY: One man who does manage to get away from his desk is Peter Etherington, 33, who works as a software developer for SSP in the Dean Clough mills in Halifax.
He walks into Halifax town centre, a route that takes him underneath the beautiful, wrought iron North Bridge, to the Cinnamon Cafe, where he enjoys one of the menu's specials, such as cottage pie with a carrot mash or a Yorkshire Pasty containing minced meat and minty peas.
"I do a bit of reading while I have my meal. I'm currently having a go at The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Not the most relaxing read - I normally read something a bit less heavy, like The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M Auel, which was my last 'cafe-book'.
"Overall, the walk and the meal with a good book gets me out the office. It helps me switch off for an hour and the change of scenery is welcome.
"I'd feel the day was much longer if I just popped to the shop for a sandwich and came back to eat at my desk, like some people in the office do. Plus I get some fresh air. All in all, it's much more preferable to a deskbound lunch hour."
What do you do at lunchtime? Tell us by clicking on the "Monday's feature" link above and using the form at the bottom of the story.
TUESDAY: The designer lunchbox on the right belongs to Cynthia Leon, a 26-year-old Canadian (pictured below) who teaches English at a school about 150km north of Tokyo.
The snazzy box is by Paul Smith X, and its equally impressive contents are parsley salad, dates, crackers and proscuitto ham.
Cynthia's lunchtime is an hour from 12.35pm but for the first half-hour she may be monitoring the students having their lunch.
"The Japanese lunches are prepared by the school, by a local food centre or restaurant. Small teams of students take turns to serve lunch to their classmates.
"School lunches contain a rich variety of healthy and nutritious foods, and students look forward to lunchtime.
"People always say "Itadakimasu -- 銇勩仧銇犮亶銇俱仚" (let's eat) before each meal. When the meal is done: Gochisousama deshita -- 銇斻仭銇濄亞銇曘伨銇с仐銇 (Good food, good meal).
"Japanese people love their curry and rice. My predecessor is from London and claims that Japanese curry is not curry. Nothing beats a good British curry!"
The students and teachers typically eat milk, rice or noodles, bread or cake, soup and meat or fish.
But Cynthia prepares her own lunch and for the last half-hour she often goes for a walk along the river, listening on her iPod to music by Fabio, Mary Ann Hobbs and Gilles Peterson.
