Lessons at Lunch

As I was trying to ward off a sneak tickle attack by a rambunctious 4th grade girl while we were settling down for lunch, I noticed an interesting poster on the wall behind her.

If you’ve ever been instructed on the correct way to hold chopsticks, you’ve probably been told to hold one like you would hold a pencil, keeping the other one stationary while using the one to move and pinch the food. Well, it turns out Japanese children receive the same lesson in reverse. This poster gave directions on how to hold a pencil, by showing pictures of a hand holding chopsticks that gradually morph into it holding a pencil. It makes sense, of course. Japanese children have been using chopsticks since they were old enough to sit upright. It still struck me as funny to use something fairly complex, using chopsticks, to describe how to do something so simple, hold a pencil.

Speaking of chopsticks, a few days ago, one of my co-workers again showed concern / surprise at my using chopsticks to eat. About once every couple weeks, one of my fellow teachers will ask if I’m comfortable with chopsticks or one of my students will giggle that I do eat with chopsticks. After assuring the teacher that I was fine without a spoon, fork, and knife: I turned back to the group of 6th graders I was sitting with and tried to tell them that Americans often eat with chopsticks, too. It’s a slight exaggeration, but I do get the feeling that they believe no American has ever seen chopsticks unless they have traveled to Japan themselves. I made the mistake however, of listing some of the foods I’ve eaten with chopsticks, among them being sushi, when one of the girls quickly set me straight, informing me that I shouldn’t be eating sushi with chopsticks but with my hands. And in Japan, that’s true. If you are at a sushi restaurant, it is traditional and expected that you eat the sushi with your hands. Sushi from the grocery store, on the other hand, would be okay to eat with chopsticks, I think.

As usual, I tried to show these Japanese children that Americans can be cosmopolitan and worldly, only for them to decide that I was quite the opposite.

- Jenny