One of the things I found interesting in this class is how different dining habits could be in different cultures. Some are unusual, and some that is okay in one could be completely rude in the other. Growing up in a Filipino household, I had been taught several dining habits. One of the most common ones known from Filipinos is their habit of using a spoon in every meal we eat. Because almost every meal we eat has rice (no meal is ever really a meal without rice), we learned to use our fork to push the rice to our spoon, making it possible to grab every single grain on my plate. To me, this is the best idea as far as dining goes, which is why I thought it was ridiculous how other people in different cultures ate their peas as explained in class. Also, another habit that I was taught growing up was to drink my soup straight from the bowl and make a loud slurp while doing so. This habit was actually taught by my grandfather to all of us grandchildren. I later learned that this is a common doing mainly in Japanese culture. They say the noise you make while you eat show that you are truly enjoying your food. However, I would not hurry and do this at every moment in every meal, as most cultures still consider this rude.
Kid knows how to do it the right way!
Last semester while doing research for a project I had learned of Egyptian dining habits as well. In Egypt, only the right hand is used for eating, salting of food is considered an insult, and empty plates are seen as an opportunity for the hostess to fill it up again so a small portion is always left. Of course, these are only a few of the habits of several cultures in the world. Research of these habits is strongly suggested before travelling to save you from awkward or embarrassing moments.
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