Satisfied with leftovers

A Korean breakfast was a reiteration of last night's dinner except stir fried zucchini and mild onions replaced the seaweed, fried smelt replaced the sweet and sour, and a dark broth with spinach replaced the tofu soup. I speak of food in the cafeteria of Hanwoori Hall, the dormitory at Ewha University where I am enjoying the 9th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women.
I can see my food wasn't so much of last night's dinner as I first thought when I looked at the tray. But tomorrow when I fly I shall be glad I did not take the huge western breakfast. From the Korean tray I get the impression the chefs - or powers that be - have no law restricting them from holding leftover food. However, it suited my palate. I eat leftovers at home because it is economical and neither taste nor nutrition is compromised when food is refrigerated and nuked.
In reality, women accept leftovers far too often. I am as guilty as any. Coming from a childhood of poverty I have a very good life. I did not take the first job offered me when relocating to Washington state because I had the courage to hold out for a better one. When it came I should have been incensed that I was accepted only because I could type - and I couldn't pass high school typing 25 years earlier. The job paid $5,200 a year, more that my husband ever earned in a year in his life. In those days increases were regular in government work and advance was easy although I couldn't compete with men and certainly not without a PhD. I accepted what I got and put aside the allowed savings for 20 years. Later circumstances changed and I was left with a small pension and social security. My home was paid for so a car and utilities were all I needed to exist comfortably. But I lived in the poverty bracket in the slum area of town.
I was not about to sit still. The first 42 years of my life were spent in the state of my birth. My ancestors came from Europe, my father within the 20th century. I wanted to see beyond the United States. If I did not skimp, eat leftovers, and restrict frivolous spending I would not have experienced the travel and adventure I have. I will not change my saving ways. I sit in cramped economy airplane seats putting up with little. I will continue to have experiences that I now can't begin to contemplate.
Naomi Sherer