It’s always a good idea to ask questions.
My mother’s parents took my father’s parents out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
My Hawaii-born and raised grandpa raised a bowl of soup to his lips.
Getty Images
I’ve navigated multiple sets of table manners throughout my life.
So I understand that eating on unfamiliar territory can be a minefield of cultural mistakes.
We all have different programming.
We are all entrenched in our own customs, which may be at odds with our host’s.
But showing up with the wrong gift can sometimes be worse than showing up empty-handed.
You abide only by your own methods of consumption instead of trying someone else’s.
Food often doesn’t come with directions.
Communicating your inexperience can be key to enjoying a new dish.
“A lot of times it isn’t clear exactly how to eat a new food.
Or sometimes foods should be scooped up with bread, rather than a fork or spoon.
Australian PR director Kylie Flett follows this up with a cautionary tale.
“That’s how my college roommate ended up projectile-vomiting across the kitchen.
Because she dipped a cracker in a jar of Vegemite like it was Nutella … Any good Aussie knows you scrape [a thin layer of] Vegemite across pre-buttered toast.”
You eat with your hands, or you don’t eat with your hands.
Or you eat with the wrong hand.
Self-awareness will save you in most instances, especially when deciding how to use your hands at the table.
You don’t follow your host’s lead.
At the end of the day, self-awareness is the most important thing in any unfamiliar situation.
Thus, he implied that the food would not be flavorful enough.”
The interesting thing was the absolute horror of watching other visitors do that kind of thing.
Lerner-Frank grew to love Chinese manners and seeing them play out in her non-Chinese family.
