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Posts: 9192

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Q: Do I have to use chopsticks?

will all restaurants have forks or do I need to carry my own? I have no desire to learn to use sticks to eat , having had to learn to use knives and forks , from our traditional Eskimo use of fingers.
I think I will loose "face" if I eat with sticks and make a mess of my shirt.

12 years 33 weeks ago in  Food  - China

 
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Posts: 150

Governor

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Sorry to be blunt but you shouold reconsider coming to China if you're not willing to eat with chopsticks. It's part of the culture so if you're already having difficulty adapting to chopsticks, you're not going to last long here.

 

:

Well, you're wrong. Not that using chopsticks it makes you a half  Chinese. BTW. If I am not wrong he is married to a Chinese girl or he's got a Chinese gf, so possibly he is to stay here for a long while. 

11 years 7 weeks ago
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12 years 33 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Ever watch the Chinese use a knife and fork! That is also a source of fun! The best is when you go to eat and they're SO SURPRISED "you can use chopsticks!?" idiots...

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12 years 33 weeks ago
 
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I like to shovel in my food, and not reconsider coming,, WT ? , just told my GF that it is a sign of respect if the woman feeds her man at the dinner table,,and since I'm a guest that she should also bring a friend to help,, one for each side,,,,,started a new tradition then,,,see I adapted

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12 years 33 weeks ago
 
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I don't know how many times local people have been amazed that I can use chopsticks, as if it was really that hard to do. Then, they realize I'm left-handed, and really flip!!

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12 years 19 weeks ago
 
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Learning how to use chopsticks is one of the fun things about being in China.  However, I learned how to use them when I was 5 living in LA.  So when I got here, I had more experience with them then most of the locals I ate with.

What I find enjoyable is all of the traditions surrounding the use of chopsticks depending on where you live.  For example, in some places sticking your chopsticks in rice (or any food) is a big no-no.  That is an invite for ghosts to come and live with you.

Or resting your chopsticks on the table so that they are pointing at someone is also a big no-no.  It has something to do with feng shui.  I never could get a straight answer on that one.

Then of course, there is picking the right chopsticks for the right type of food.  There are Japanese chopsticks (long, thin and pointy), Korean chopsticks (shorter, stouter and more rounded tips) and Chinese chopsticks (medium length, typically square and almost blunt tips).

Shining_brow:

And if you drop one on the floor, you're going to be invited to a party soon.. but if you drop 2, you'll be in a fight! I heard sticking both sticks to the bottom of the bowl meant you wished ill on someone at the table... like picking a fight with them.

12 years 19 weeks ago
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Xpat.John:

That reminds me of another one. If you hold the chopsticks near the top, you will marry someone far away. More towards the middle means you will marry someone near by.

12 years 19 weeks ago
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HugAPanda:

Where do you have to hold them to ensure you won't be getting married again? :P

12 years 19 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

HaP - a monastary hehehe.... Actually, someone (boys, naturally) tried to do the "how far down the chopstick is how big your d*ck is....

12 years 19 weeks ago
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HugAPanda:

Chopsticks or toothpicks? Just sayin... it's the rumor going around, yanno.

12 years 19 weeks ago
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12 years 19 weeks ago
 
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Honestly, where did you grow up that you can't use chopsticks? What year is it?

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12 years 19 weeks ago
 
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Yes I grew up where eating with sticks is not common. I managed OK with chopsticks. I watched kids pick up peas to my surprise. I see what practice does. On the flight over, Air China, the majority on the plane were Chinese and with the first meal, I thought would be chopsticks. Everyone I saw got the same crappy plastic utensils, no chopsticks.See they all changed for me. How hard is it?cheekylaughcheeky

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12 years 19 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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Dude, you will have to learn Chopsticks to survive here. Hint, they piss on the forks and spoons in the back because you are a Kwai lo!

Its easy peasy. Practice with shelled peanuts while drinking heavily! Try picking up 1 at a time. Then go for two. I have picked up 3 at a time (side by side on occasion). Those little suckers are slippery and when done incorrectly they will pop out everywhere!

Grasshopper, when you master that inebriated, you may leave the temple!

BTW a hint for that worn out Buddhist Koan..."what is the sound of 1 hand clapping?"

I answered..."Whoosh, Whoosh, whooosh"...That one got me kicked out of the temple! Smile

Like I needed a bunch of vegetarian monks who werent getting any! Smile

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12 years 19 weeks ago
 
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You could try sitting with your hands "demurely" folded on your lap, tilt  your head forward 90 degrees from your body and eat using only your lips and tongue to grab food.  Your hands remain clean, your shirt remains clean and people will truly remember you for the rest of their lives!cheeky

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12 years 18 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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I refuse to use chopsticks and carry my own fork everywhere I go........My friends are now use to it and have stopped laughing at me...........

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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for a good laff,,,, just hold them backwards....   lol

 

I mean point the thicker end at the food,, skinny end up by your hand..   then insist that this is correct usage ,,,   then after glabbering about that awhile,,, point out that (insert home country name for kuaizi) actually originated in your home country.

 

remember,,, if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit....  angel

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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For me it's like a mental challenge to grab a bunch of vegetables from my dish using chopsticks. They increase your mental skills incredibly !

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Of course you must! Did you not read the SAFEA? Jiminy

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Um, I thought everyone from the west knew how to use chopsticks. I'm from the US (Connecticut), we learned them in second grade. And seeing as we eat Chinese once a week or so, it's hard NOT to get practice in. So is this why all the locals keep staring at me when I use them, you guys carry around f****** forks?

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Year old post, It took me 2 days to learn to eat well with chopsticks.

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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You dont have to use chopsticks.but sometimes, there are not  forks to use. You have no choice.

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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You don't have to use them you can just throw them away. I'm sure there is someone in this world that is willing to collect them. I saw a story of a guy who lived here before. He got an idea to collect chopsticks out the dumpster sanitize them and make different items from them like lampshades, baskets, hats etc., unbelievable!

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11 years 7 weeks ago

There are cookies, bookies and too many rookies for me to sit here trying to be a hooky! Looky Looky don't call me a wooky. Touchy Touchy Feely Feely Spicy Spicy Nicey Nicey & that's what the doctor Ordered!!

 
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If you go to a restaurant that has forks you are paying too much for your food. Such fancy places do not (necessarily) server better food than the cheap places that require you to bring your own fork.

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11 years 7 weeks ago
 
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