Soup
In Japan, one compliments the chef by slurping up their noodle soup as loudly as physically possible. Not only does this practice indicate the customer’s enjoyment of the meal, it also allows the meal to be eaten before it has a chance to cool down. Now jump on over to Cheltenham, England and you’ll see that in the rare instance that somebody is gorging on a steaming hot bowl of noodles, they do so in puckered silence.
This topic came to me when I remembered an instance where my friend, who was drinking his soup from his bowl, was told off by our other classmates for his lack of manners. It is a well known fact amongst them that the correct way to drink soup was to do so with a spoon. The spooning technique itself was also quite important – you must scoop away from yourself to show, I don’t know, selflessness or something like that.
My apparent fascination with the table manners of different cultures lies in how they reflect the mannerisms of the locals. By simply walking through the streets of these two places, the contrast between the young people of Japan and those of Cheltenham is quite clear. The Japanese go about their day adorned in bedazzled badges of their favourite animated characters and wearing all the colours of the rainbow. Cheltonians seem to be more inclined towards dull grays, blues and blacks and oversized clothing. The shared enjoyment of a meal among strangers in Japan could be seen as a reflection of their attitude towards others in the sense that they seem content in displaying themselves in a more flamboyant, open way. In the case of my former classmates in England, I noticed that the most important aspect that they held onto was what kind of first impression they gave. Everybody was incredibly polite but, save the handful of close friends, that was the extent to which they would ever present themselves to others. Again, their table manners can be reflected in how they act – very, very polite.
Our culture is so deeply ingrained into the way we act and I believe that it is the small things that become quite prominent when one is in the state of culture shock. Please keep in mind that this short blog was written purely from my (probably very bias) point of view and I would love to know what kind of thoughts other people have on this idea. Comment below!
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