How do you eat rice?

Gillian Chung is from Hong Kong. Her latest boyfriend is Korean American. Language of communication: English. Similarities: both Asian, both eat rice. Yet, Gillian said there's a little cultural divide between them.

Take, for instance, mealtimes on dates with him. She said: "Koreans don't raise their rice bowls when they eat as that's impolite to them. I'm still not used to that and feel as if I've incapacitated one hand." (Straits Times Life!, 20 March 2013)

So we thought that all Asians eat rice from a bowl using chopsticks. That's where the similarities end. How we eat tells where we have come from. I am Chinese. I can eat rice from a bowl with chopsticks, but I don't raise my bowl to my mouth and shovel the rice in. My mother told me often that was how low class people ate rice. Rich and refined people used their chopsticks to pick up a lump of rice grains and place it politely in the mouth. But I held the rice bowl in my left hand and used the chopsticks with my right hand. Till today, if I'm eating anything from a bowl, I will hold the bowl in my left hand and bring it up to about neck level. My grandmother and mother always said, "Bring the food to your mouth, not your mouth to your food." In other words, bring the bowl close to your mouth. Don't bend over to bring your mouth as close to the bowl on the table as possible.

However, I don't do that if drinking Western soup! The bowl stays on the table. Only my right hand moves, using the soup spoon. Now, I've learned that Koreans do the same. Leave the bowl on the table. Use only the chopsticks.

I just learned something new today. Next time I eat Korean food, I need to remember to eat Western style but use chopsticks to pick up my food.

Happy learning another culture and language!

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