chopsticks

[2008年11月20日(木) ]

Gaijin
and
chopsticks

Visiting countries with cultures different from your own can be appealing at times and challenging at other times.
The following incident occurred to me the very first time I visited

Japan.

I had just arrived at

Narita airport and was waiting for a Japanese friend to pick me up.
Although almost all airlines claim they have the best culinary services in the skies, I think many of them exalt the word “epicurean” and “gourmet” to the skies ― which is undoubtedly the area where they do business.
In other words, I was hungry upon my arrival, and decided to have a try at

real Japanese cuisine. I went into one of the numerous restaurants within the airport terminal and ordered something from the menu. My first impression was that having 3-dimensional displays available can be of great

help to those unfamiliar with the local dishes.

I looked around my table to see how everyone was using their chopsticks, and took a pair out of the box on one corner of the table. I had never seen ― or even heard of ― disposable chopsticks, but tried to pull them apart anyway, only to discover that this necessitated more

power than I had imagined. What I had in my hands were not a pair of chopsticks, no, it was only one chopstick! I quickly took out another one from the box and started eating.
This was more difficult

than I had thought; I should have spent more time on practising eating with chopsticks, I reckoned.

I was looking around me to see what the other diners were eating, when I saw a man break his chopsticks apart.

What a

surprise

I was using not one but two pairs of chopsticks!
I put one pair down at once, used more power than at the first attempt and managed to produce a

positive result.
It made me understand the exact meaning of the Japanese word “gaijin”, not less someone unfamiliar with the local customs than merely someone from another country.

　　　

　解説

初めて来日した時、
成田空港で日本人の友達を待っていた
執筆者が経験した出来事。
「割り箸」（disposable chopsticks）の存在を知らず、
２組の割り箸で食べた。
おかげで「外人である」一例を作ってしまった。
海外から来たというより、
その国（この場合日本）の風習や当たり前だと思われることに
親しみを感じないことではないか？