After working together for over three years and seeing me translate 150 year-old documents and decipher half-illegible hand written memos, one of my coworkers complimented me on my Japanese the other day.
My handle on Japanese customs that is.
My slurping to be exact.
After being taught as a child to eat silently I had to reteach myself to slurp when I first came to Japan. I now slurp udon/ramen/soba noodles without a second thought but not all are so limited in their slurping.
The older man at the table next to us at a nice Italian restaurant did not discriminate between noodles and slurped his carbonara from his plate, fork held aloft.
The guy beside me at Subway last night didn't limit himself to noodles, or even just noodle-shaped sliced onion and shredded cabbage. He slurped his entire subway sandwich, toasted bread and cold cuts and all.
My coworker was obviously just humouring me, I have much to learn.
I'm trying to think of a better summary of this beloved land than your first three paragraphs, but ... I can't.
ReplyDeleteI still can't slurp. Doesn't matter how hard I try. Have you seen a Japanese movie called タンポポ? It was made in 1985, but it remains a gem. If you've seen it, ignore the rest. If you haven't, oh, do yourself a favour and get it. Look at this scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm_ubnnZusc
So what is worse: the hawking oyaji or the Subway-slurping guy? ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's a hard decision... they are both pretty disgusting. But at least the young guy slurping was just an affront to the ears, the oyaji who hawk quite often spit... which is disgusting on a whole different level. And as disgusted as I was I had to give the Subway slurper credit for slurping bread... I didn't know it could be done!
DeleteI think Blogger has just slurped up my first comment.
ReplyDeleteI'll try again. I can't think of a better description of this beloved land than your first three paragraphs. It's so apt!
I still can't slurp. I just can't. I've given up.
Have you seen a movie called タンポポ? It was made in 1985, so it counts as a golden oldie, but it remains a gem. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and get it. Look at this scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm_ubnnZusc
I remember seeing Tanpopo a long time ago, but I had totally forgotten about the spaghetti scene - hilarious!
DeleteYou can't slurp? Seriously? I am sure there is a rule somewhere that says you have to demonstrate your slurping ability before you can be granted permanent residency! :P
You have to slurp for permanent residency? So what do you do for citizenship? o_0
DeleteHawk like an oyaji, obviously! ;)
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