a little Xtra

HOw would you eat me??? mmmm

THis is a guest entry from HH all the way from Glasgow!

CROSS CULTURAL DIALOUGE
by HH


Though I must say it is such a privilege mixing around with the ang mohs... I have been going out with some of the secretaries lately for lunch and when I see myself in my mind's eye I want to laugh. They are all so prim and proper, u see, so I have to leave behind my barbaric ways and conform to the ways of the civilised world, remembering to say please and thank you and sitting with my legs together and my elbows off the table, ordering a soda and lime or a bitter lemon, laying my napkin neatly on my lap, remembering to scoop my soup from inside out, trying not to make a clatter or drop the bread roll and all the while trying to make inane, polite inquiries about their lives and their children's lives and their parent's and dogs equally mundane lives without spewing food halfway across the table. =) Yes, that'd make a funny sight, I think... Sometimes the British are so awfully, hair raisingly polite that I feel like shuddering. To go out for a meal protocol has to be followed:1) Formal invitation-- "We are going across to the restaurant on Monday for lunch and we'd love if you could join us"2) Reply to show pleasant surprise (feigned or otherwise)-- "Oh, how lovely of you!"3) Ambiguous smile from inviter which can mean anything from we'd always thought of inviting you to I'm sorry we had to ask you so last minute but we needed to fill the extra seat.4) Polite enquiry about the details of appointment-- " Oh, what time and where are we going?"5) Detailed reply including a running commentary of the ambience of the place, the type of soup,starter and mains they serve etc6) Positive comment about the place-- " Oh, that sounds like such a delightful little place!"7) Conclusion--" Yes I'd love to come" or "Oh dear, I'd love to come but I already have a lunch apptment, what a pity"8) _Expression of gratitude-- "Thank you so very much for asking me along" compared to Singaporean:1) Brusque, to-the-point invitation-- "Eh, we going downstairs for lunch. Want to come or not?"2) Honest display of indecision-- "Huh? where, what time?"3) Slight irritation at this delay--" Food court lah, 12 o'clock. So u coming or not?"4) Snap decision made so all can get back to work-- "Ok lah, ok lah... see u downstairs, if I'm not down u all order first." It's so amusing, isn't it, this stark cross cultural difference even in something as small as arranging a lunch appt.

That's what I miss about home, I think. Where things are taken at face value, little insinuated, you're free to say what you wish as long as it's not hurting, where pple are direct, to the point. Where food is found cheaply in food courts, where you can eat with your elbows on the table and slurp your soup if you wish, where the aunties and colleagues around you will not condemn you for being impolite if you so much as forget to add the please at the end of the sentence, where you're not found to be funny if you don't order a drink with your meal... yes, all these little things about home, small but nonetheless important...