Korean Table Manners

Another cultural note that I don't want to forget in the years to come!

Some Korean table manners really surprised me when I got here. In Korea, it is rude to pick up dishes off the table while eating. This means that sometimes Koreans bend over their bowls to slurp their food. (When I visited Japan, I learned that their manners are the opposite: if you lean over your bowl, its is rude. They think it looks like how a dog eats. So, they pick up their bowls and hold them closer to their mouths.) It also means that passing dishes isn't all that common. In America, it is rude for us to reach for a dish. However, in Korea it is the opposite. It's completely OK to reach in front of a person, and actually, it is rude to ask someone to pass something to you if it is at all possible for you to reach it yourself. If you ask them to pass a dish, when really you could reach it, it is like making them your servant.

Another thing is that Koreans typically share all dishes in the middle, besides their soup and rice bowls. In America, we would take food from the main dishes using some sort of serving spoon and put it on our own plates, and then eat it with our own silverware. But in Korea, you use your own chopsticks to pick the food right off the common plate! This means you touch other food with the same chopsticks that go in your mouth! Double dipping to the max! :-D Despite that this might be gross to some of you, I think it really creates a nice communal atmosphere. I really enjoy the group eating culture here in Korea!