大学生とお母さんとお弁当

   So, one of the differences I've noticed between American university students and Japanese university students began with lunch...in particular, the bento box. When I first saw everyone with their lunchboxes, I thought they were really good cooks and was super impressed at all the delicious things they could make. I soon found out, though, that it wasn't the students who were making these amazing lunches, but their mothers. This was really shocking to me because, in America, mothers do not make school lunches for their children everyday. To admit that your mother made your lunchbox would be really embarrassing in my country, but in Japan it seems to be the norm. I know that a person is not technically considered to be an adult until they are 20-years-old, but even American high school students would be embarrassed to have their lunches made by their mothers.
   I understand that this may build the relationship between a mother and her child, but this mother/child relationship is a little foreign to me. I love my mother a whole lot, and she loves me dearly; however, I (and most other university students in America) would hate to be dependent upon our mothers for lunch everyday. While it's nice to know that my mother cares for me, and it would be convenient for me if she made my lunch, I value my independence more than a free meal.
    However, if one of the Japanese students wanted to share the bento their mother made with me, that would be okay! =P