More Noticing
Last week Friday, I went to Takayama with all my first-year students and teachers on a one-day school “excursion.” For some reason, that is how it always gets translated. It makes me laugh.
Anyways, while in Takayama, I went out to eat Hida beef (a local, delicious, speciality) at a Western-style steak restaurant. I always love the way the Japanese imitate the western-style. Mostly they do ok, they have seen tons of western movies and tv shows, but it is always a little strange and awkward.
At this restaurant, what ended up being the most amusing, was watching my co-workers try to fumble through an entire meal with only a fork and steak knife. Most restaurants you go to, especially those that have meals which are intended to be eaten with fork/knife/spoon (Italian, Steak, etc), also offer chopsticks. And, in my experience, the Japanese usually opt for using the chopsticks, especially if they are eating salad.
Well, at this restaurant, no chopsticks were offered, and so my co-workers just had to muddle through the entire meal. As I watched them, I was totally surprised to see them using the silverware much like they would chopsticks. They each held the fork in their non-dominant hand and the steak knife in their right. They never set either utensil down. For the most part they would use the knife to scoop some food onto the backside of the fork and then they would move it to their mouth. They never scooped their food only with the fork. They never stabbed anything. The whole thing was slow and cumbersome.
At one point, my co-workers noticed that I had stopped eating and was only watching them. They asked what was wrong and I explained how differently they were using their utensils. Then they watched me use mine. I’m sure I looked just as clumsy and awkward eating my meal, as they did to me.
All in all it ended up being an interesting exchange. I watched them. They watched me. Neither of us wanted to change the way we got things done, and I suppose it doesn’t really matter. We all managed to get the food to our mouth, no matter how we went about it.