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Shinobu is not a student at Mars Hill College, but she is a visitor. She is spending this year in volunteer service at the Mounting Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center in Madison County. While here, she wants to improve her English so she is auditing the English class for International Students. She comes to all the classes meetings, does the assignments and takes the tests. That is dedication! Introduce yourself to Shinobu when you see her on campus. Ask her to tell you about the Riding Center.
Some Differences in Food and Eating
Shinobu Ichkawa
from Japan
Shinobu
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Our two countries have a lot of differences in culture. One that is very obvious to me is food.
In Japan bread consumption is rising but rice remains the main food. We can eat fish prepared in many ways: baked, boiled and sometimes raw. That is called “sashimi” or “sushi.”
I was surprised when I went to the store here because you have so many kinds of dressings and cheeses. I think I want to taste everything while I am in America. But I will get fat if I do.
I was surprised to see that potato chips are a food that you eat at meals in America. In Japan chips are only eaten as a snack, and the same way with sweets. Do you think potato chips are a meal or a snack?
In Japan we use chopsticks instead of knives, forks, and spoons. Chopsticks are popular throughout Asia, but there are a few regions like Japan where local cuisine is enjoyed almost exclusively with chopsticks. In neighboring countries, spoon are used together with chopsticks.
Of course you know that chopsticks look like long unused pencils. But do you know how to hold chopsticks? Gently press your thumb on both chopsticks. Support the upper chopstick with the index finger and middle finger and support the lower one with the third finger to move the stick. Only the upper shopstick is supposed to move.
Most young Japanese can not use chopsticks as well as their parents, due in part to the popularity of Western cuisine. Because the custom is dying out, an increasing number of elementary schools in Japan are introducing chopstick etiquette into their programs.
I like both American and Japanese cuisine, and I like both ways of eating!
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