Habit with chopsticks

[punkgrl326]

keatonatron wrote:

punkgrl326 wrote:
I've heard that it's required in Japan to eat with chopsticks using your right hand and that using your left hand is somewhat discouraged. Is this true and if it is will they accept it if you're a 外人 or not?

It'd be like shaking hands with your left hand.

That's the one you're supposed to wipe poop with, you don't want to touch other people with it or stick it in your mouth. :p

[Edit: I know shaking hands with the right hand began as a gesture to shows you won't grab your sword, so the two statements above are a bit unrelated... but even in western culture, doesn't right = food hand, left = poop hand?]

Oh god, that's disgusting :@. It's no suprise why there were two bubonic plagues and why ppl had shorter lifespans. Well, I'm slightly ambidextrous so learning how to use chopsticks with my right hand shouldn't be too hard, and if I can't I really don't care. I also like Mike's reasoning on enjoying a meal

[two_heads_talking]

keatonatron wrote:


[Edit: I know shaking hands with the right hand began as a gesture to shows you won't grab your sword, so the two statements above are a bit unrelated... but even in western culture, doesn't right = food hand, left = poop hand?]

umm maybe if you live in turkey or some arabic country then yes.. it is also a reason why having your right hand cut off for thievery is such a big deal.. you cannot then go to any public areas to eat as eating with your left hand is offensive as you use it to clean yourself.. (again this isn't the most modern of areas that i am speaking of..) and this was a common thing 1000 years ago. no toilet paper back then.

[Infidel]

and this was a common thing 1000 years ago. no toilet paper back then.

Ahh yes, the joys of ancient bathroom technology. In old times, before bathroom tissue going to the bathroom was nothing like today. Public toilets, in Greece for example, would have a communal sponge or wetcloth for what you hand couldn't handle. Just dip it in the water and squeeze a few times before your turn. Hopefully the water in the bucket isn't too dirty. Be sure to check before you do your business. Of course, sometimes the communal sponge might be missing or worn out...I'm sure that made a bunch of people happy. The very first person to use the communal sponge wouldn't exactly be loving life either as sponges are rather coarse before they are broken in properly. And those jerks who wouldn't rinse out the sponge after their turn, I'm sure there were a few duels to the death over that.. Then there would be the pranksters that think it would be funny to dump the rinse water on the the person in the stall while their pants are down or hide the bucket while the person is busy.

They might have some scented water nearby if you are at some noble's house, but in most cultures you can forget about soap. It's amazing how many cultures didn't even have soap at all. If you live in an area where water is scarce, you could always plunge your hand in the sand a few times, until it looked good enough.

Of course soap changed a lot of thing, but have you ever noticed that soap doesn't always eliminate the smell of whatever inspired you to wash in the first place? It's not as if their soap was anti-bacterial either.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Sort of off-topic, but I was wondering if anybody else holds a pencil the same weird way that I do. I grasp it between my index finger and my middle finger, so it rests over the middle part of my middle finger, and my thumb wraps over the middle part of my index finger. My kindergarten teacher used to make me write with crayons as a "punishment" to get me out of the habit. It just made my compositions look that much more colorful.

[Sunken]

Keatonatron's link was informative. However, what about using both hashi to get the last noodles out of the bowl - is that acceptable? Or should you just leave them? (If you care about manners, that is)

[two_heads_talking]

Cyborg Ninja wrote:
Sort of off-topic, but I was wondering if anybody else holds a pencil the same weird way that I do. I grasp it between my index finger and my middle finger, so it rests over the middle part of my middle finger, and my thumb wraps over the middle part of my index finger. My kindergarten teacher used to make me write with crayons as a "punishment" to get me out of the habit. It just made my compositions look that much more colorful.

i can't even figure out what that looks like.. can you include a picture.. i just tried what i think you said and nearly broke my finger..

[Mike Cash]

Sunken wrote:
Keatonatron's link was informative. However, what about using both hashi to get the last noodles out of the bowl - is that acceptable? Or should you just leave them? (If you care about manners, that is)

Pick up your bowl, if you haven't already, tip it up and use both hashi to scoop the remnants downward into your gaping piehole. Replace your bowl on the table, belch, and noisily pick your teeth while saying "あー、食った、食った". Congratulations, you have passed the first exam for being a Japanese truck driver.

[keatonatron]

Gaping Piehole.

Good name for a band!