tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post4612054812034573163..comments2009-07-10T16:39:52.400+09:00Comments on The Monster Flower: ShoesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-48709223407455833792008-07-23T09:02:00.000+09:002008-07-23T09:02:00.000+09:00Helen: I'm not sure what Japanese form is for chop...Helen: I'm not sure what Japanese form is for chopsticks, so I may do it wrong, too. That being said, since I almost never eat out anymore, I haven't had occasion to use chopsticks for years!<BR/><BR/>Dateline: I buy my clothes from the U.S. (by mail order) so they fit my gaijin body (yes, our shapes are different!) so I've never gone into a Japanese fitting room. I'm not even sure all Japanese people know when to remove their shoes automatically so I wouldn't be embarrassed. :-)<BR/><BR/>Thanks to both of you for commenting!Orchid64https://www.blogger.com/profile/07132543155589881288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-21451610725678012652008-07-22T22:31:00.000+09:002008-07-22T22:31:00.000+09:00Shamefully, I'm still in the process of learning w...Shamefully, I'm still in the process of learning when my shoes must be removed, since you seem to have to do it everywhere you go 'round these parts...I was reminded (with the teeniest hint of chastisement)to remove my sandals before stepping into a teeny tiny fitting room to try on a shirt yesterday...*sigh*...Embarrassing if not a little annoying. The floor of the thing was a square of fabric about as big as your average kitchen tile to begin with! ^_^ Have you ever had to try something on in one of those things???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-50472629513707545822008-07-21T23:54:00.000+09:002008-07-21T23:54:00.000+09:00I lived on a Canadian farm in my teen years and we...I lived on a Canadian farm in my teen years and we usually did remove our boots/shoes at the door. We also had puppies in our kitchen from time to time and it was better to remove shoes rather than tromp on a puppy's foot with them on. <BR/><BR/>I always at least asked if I should remove my footwear at my friend's homes, it really did depend on the family. The only one of my friends that I used to yell at for wearing dirty shoes into my apartment was born in England. <BR/><BR/>Go figure!<BR/><BR/>And, I was a self taught chopstick user so my technique was terrible for years. However, it did work. I'm in the process of changing my technique to the more "Japanese" way and it's tough to remember sometimes. But, I never starved, and isn't that the main point?Helenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00476943539943172099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-59266925236390028342008-07-21T08:47:00.000+09:002008-07-21T08:47:00.000+09:00I've been mocked by people (a Canadian woman I wor...I've been mocked by people (a Canadian woman I worked with comes to mind) for doing the American "hand switcher" thing where I swap the knife and fork so that the preferred utensil of the moment was always in my right hand. Honestly, I stopped switching not because I cared, but because I got lazier and didn't feel like moving my utensils around anymore. My husband gets around this by cutting up all his food first and then eating it (which is also declassé I believe).<BR/><BR/>While Europeans (and apparently Australians and Canadians), eat by keeping the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right, it's not confined to the upper class. Again, I see it as no great feat of dexterity to eat with a fork in your left hand. <BR/><BR/>People who have to feel superior over such trivial matters must have serious esteem issues.Orchid64https://www.blogger.com/profile/07132543155589881288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-32869252280694143392008-07-20T12:08:00.000+09:002008-07-20T12:08:00.000+09:00The talk of forks and knives and smugness suddenly...The talk of forks and knives and smugness suddenly reminded me of something from the past. <BR/><BR/>The wife of a former boss had this habit of making sure that everyone noticed that she and her side of the family ate "continental style", which she described as "never putting one's knife and fork down". There were a few other rules that were applicable to this as well, but I never paid any real attention. She described it as the way that upper-class people in Europe eat, for whatever that's worth.<BR/><BR/>I and other coworkers just thought that she was an idiot. I think her husband did, too.badmoodguy (Бадмўдгуи)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00737755278975395898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-84197514748566712982008-07-20T09:59:00.000+09:002008-07-20T09:59:00.000+09:00I'd probably say that it's unfortunate that he can...I'd probably say that it's unfortunate that he can't remember to take a few seconds to give his shoes several good swipes on the mat before walking in so he has no choice but to remove his shoes after he's already inside. ;-)<BR/><BR/>There's an odder smugness about using chopsticks that I tend to encounter. It's an attitude that says that you must possess superior dexterity to manipulate two sticks and eat with them (though I honestly don't know anyone who hasn't mastered it with a tiny amount of consistent practice). Sometimes I have to restrain myself from saying that it's too bad that cultures that use sticks as utensils never developed the tool-making technology to do better. That's a bit too nasty and would make me appear just as smug as them. And honestly, it's not what I really feel.<BR/><BR/>As it is, when my students ask, "can you use chopsticks," (as if it's such a challenge!) I reply with, "of course, can you use a knife and a fork?"Orchid64https://www.blogger.com/profile/07132543155589881288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398781353996043657.post-2799588693860028052008-07-20T09:44:00.000+09:002008-07-20T09:44:00.000+09:00HAHAHA! Before I married I had three Japanese room...HAHAHA! Before I married I had three Japanese roommates and always felt like the disgusting American who had to remember to take her shoes off at the door. Now, I'm married to a man who also takes his shoes off at the door...I just asked him why...his father was Chinese but he says that's not why he does it. He seems also to feel superior about his shoe removal habit. Hm.Liz Stone Abrahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16759310180633003512noreply@blogger.com