well, this is suppose to be the RIGHT way:
I’ve always believe that it is up to my own discretion to eat the way I want. But of course, I would eat gracefully and not gobble the food down greedily. It was truly an eye-opener and very informative for a culturally insensitive person—like me~~!
The Italians are known to be very proud of their food. I have ever read that it if you do not like one of the ingredients listed in an entree or the way it was prepared, order something else. Never ask for the dish to be modified because, the restaurant owner or a family member will take it as an insult. To him or her, you are suggesting that the food is not suitably prepared or the recipe they use is wrong.
From the above cultural information, we can deduce that the Italians bears the utmost respect for their food before eating them. Something like: military funeral—saluting the deceased before burial or crematory. Well, quite a bad analogy but it brings the point across!
So, if anyone were to ever go to Italy and to any other country, please do remember to follow the societal expectation otherwise, you would be frowned upon. I think in the end, everyone has to remember that in different societies, there will be different expectations which we have to adhere to. It is a form of respect to the people living in that society but also respect for you.
WHY?
Because, it shows that it matters to keep yourself abreast of certain trends and norms. Can you imagine that kind of positive impression you would leave on your new friends?
4 comments:
Hello Miranda, yes I think it is important for us to understand and perhaps, do some research on a country’s culture by reading up on their traditions and practices before making a trip down to a country. There are numerous travel books in libraries, or a more convenient way would be to visit wikitravel.com to gather more information on a country’s culture.
However, when caught in a situation like what the tourist experienced, I believe the best way would be to politely apologise and learn from this experience. Personally, to make this situation more constructive, I would kindly request that she demonstrate the proper dining etiquette for Spaghetti. This would show that I do respect her culture and that I am open and willing to learn from her.
Hi Miranda, I think it is important that we do some research on the particular country and its culture before we go overseas because different cultures will have different habits and dining etiquette. Thus if we can try to practice the correct way of eating, it will save us the trouble of offending anyone, especially the natives of that country.
Take for example, the use of chopsticks is very prevalent in Asian countries but one has to take note not to insert the chopsticks vertically into the food and leave it there as that will resemble putting joss sticks for the dead in a funeral wake and that will be a bad mistake to commit especially if the people there are more superstitious.
Another example will be that dining in countries such as parts of the Middle East and North Africa does not encompass the usage of dining utensils. Thus, eating is usually done with the bare hands but caution has to be taken not to eat with the left hand as people in the Arab countries regard the left hand as "unclean" and hence not use for touching the food to be eaten.
In conclusion, I guess that at home you can eat in whatever manner or pattern you want (without offending your own family members) but in Rome, you should eat like how the Romans eat.
Hi Miranda, I think we should do some research on the countries we are going for tour as it is important to know the culture so as not to offend the people living there.
However, if we offend them in any way , we can just apologies to them and learn from the mistake. It is never wrong to admit a mistake and even if your friend stares at you for your mistake, it is okay , it is a learning experience.
Hi Miranda, it's interesting to know how proud Italians are of their food. I never knew that it's seen as disrespectful to not eat spaghetti in the "correct" way.
I agree that we should do some research of the country's culture before travelling. Even travel books help. They often mention what we should do and what we should not do in that country. Thus, preventing any unwanted unhappiness from occurring.
I feel that the Italian lady could have been a little more understanding towards the tourist. He/she may not know the culture that they have and made that mistake. By scolding, it may even cause the tourist to have a bad impression of Italians and find that they are hostile. Explaining and correcting the mistake in a nicer tone helps in creating awareness of the culture and avoids conflict.
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