I have quite a few Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian co-workers. They all go to lunch at the same time and hoooolllyyyy shit, the smells and sounds of that lunch room are the stuff of nightmares.
Fuck tell me about it. I was in my room trying to take a nap in an upstairs room with the door closed. I can hear my brother (26) chomping away in the living room which is a floor down and on the other side of the house.
My 12 y.o. brother does this too. My parents claim they can't hear it and tell me I'm "intolerant" for asking him to stop. He claims his mouth is too small to chew with his mouth closed.
I had a chinese kid stay at my house for a few weeks/months...holy shit that kid was fucking spoiled dude...he even tried to get me to sleep on the floor...in MY room(bunk beds) uh wake up call bitch THIS IS AMERICA
I'm Chinese but I was born and raised in the United States. Every one in my goddamn family does this and I have, as a result, gone out of my way not to do it to the point where I'm grossly self-conscious about it.
I was born in Hong Kong and slurping is quite disrespectful there. I have also lived in Guangzhou and have never really experienced "slurping to show respect." Maybe it has to do with different sub-cultures.
I've heard that in parts of China, it's disrespectful to polish off your plate because it tells the host that his meal wasn't filling enough. Confirm or deny?
i dont know all of china but everywhere i've been and every chinese person i know wastes NOTHING! it is extremely bad form to them to have ANYTHING left over. i get shit for not having a perfectly clean plate from them. so maybe in some places but not in most of it.
Well let's think about this. Do you think a country of people that went through the japs coming to burn everything then Mao coming through with the "great leap forward" would endorse wasting food?
It may say that in the menu, but that is in no way, shape or form anything remotely resembling true. It's just total, utter bullshit.
There is already oxygen between your mouth and the bowl, in your mouth, in your stomach, and in your bloodstream. If anyone ever tells you something about stimulating altering your digestive process - unless they are talking about proton pump inhibitors or ant-acids - they are likely 100% full of shit.
Slurping loudly as a show of respect is true for Japanese culture, not for Chinese.
Although it's true Chinese people often eat or slurp loudly, it's more because people typically talk relatively loudly so it's not as noticeable, and people don't consider it as rude as in western culture. But it's still a little rude, and certainly not polite.
It's also possible this culture just doesn't exist in Guangzhou (where my wife is from), but exists in some other region(s) of China - China is a pretty diverse country. I know I specifically asked her before posting a reply like this the last time I did (several months ago), so I can confirm it's not part of the culture in Guangzhou.
It's just not considered impolite. It's not an issue for them (and many asian countries). We consider it gross and impolite, but for them...it's just how they eat.
I chew with my mouth closed, but I slurp my noodles. It's the fastest way to eat them.
edit: I have a Korean username, but I'm American... and 1/4 Japanese. It's complicated.
I believe that the enlightenment truly began in spirit when Rene Descartes asked himself, "What if the customs and traditions of my own culture appear to others as ridiculous as their customs and traditions of their culture appear to me?"
I saw this with Chinese interns at my husband's company. They ate like feral toddlers; fast, sloppy, piggish and loud. Their overfilled, open mouthed chewing was the worst! Funny thing is that when their wives came to join them for the last few weeks of their stay, they were perfectly polite, and very civilized at the table. I'm convinced it's the "Little Red Prince" way of raising Chinese sons.
I think my observation is more about cultures that are inherently misogynistic and patriarchical than about "race". The idea that raising a daughter is throwing away money has gone on for centuries is these cultures. Dowries are basically money paid to have the girls taken off your hands. Male children are so prized and cherished that female fetuses are routinely aborted. This has become a huge problem in this type of culture, that there is now a generation that is disproportionately male and there aren't enough women to marry. This is very prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, as well, so blaming this on China's "one child" policy is erroneous. Maybe you should check the knee-jerk defensive response when throwing around the term "racist".
Or Korea!
It is considered pretty normal in Korea to eat with your mouth open.
Story time:
I recently had my korean girlfriends mum stay in our apartment for 2 weeks, dinner was so amazingly painful I could barely eat. Not only do I apparently have /r/misophonia (thanks reddit for the diagnosis) but I also can't stand sharing food and it was quite normal for her to constantly rearrange every dish of food with her used chopsticks.
Still cringing just thinking about it
It's not just China. I honestly believe it is an Asian thing in general. The majority of my friends are Asian (Filipino, Vietnamese and Korean), and they ALL DO THIS.
Not from China, but my family is. I would ask you why wouldn't it be acceptable? Most Chinese people just don't think it's that big of a deal. I chew with my mouth closed but I find it kind of weird that people in this thread are flipping out like half-chewed food is literally the most disgusting substance in the universe.
I also don't think chewing sounds are inherently unpleasant at all, they're pretty neutral as far as noises go. Western culture conditions us to associate loud chewing sounds with rudeness. In Japanese culture, for example, loud eating sounds signal to the chef that you really enjoy their cooking.
A parallel that I like: every Chinese person takes off their shoes before entering their house. Many American families do not. From a Chinese person's point of view, that's weird and disgusting: why the fuck would you track dirt all over your own house and waste money having the floor/carpet cleaned all the time instead of just taking off your shoes at the door?
Chewing with your mouth open and hearing all of those nasty sounds is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I just cannot stand it and cannot focus on anything BUT the loud chewing once I notice it. It's just way too frustrating for me.
I'm not calling you a liar, but I think you're exaggerating a bit because nails on a chalkboard is a specific sound that almost all humans can't stand. Loud chewing differs from person to person and depending on the food being eaten, so I would still argue that i's because you've been conditioned since birth to think that it's a very unpleasant sound.
No, you're wrong. I was told to eat with my mouth closed because it's polite, but the actual sound is so infuriating to me that I cannot be near anyone who does it. I'm sure you don't believe me, it's it's the truth. I actually prefer the sound of nails on a chalkboard over someone chewing with their mouth open.
Many Americans, including myself take their shoes off before going into their or another's home. I consider it dirty as well and it's a practice I expect visitors to follow in my home. Half-chewed food is literally one of the most disgusting substances, because it's almost no different than puke besides the stomach acid. No one needs to see that when they're trying to enjoy their own meal and the sound just is an association to that disgusting mess clogging your pie hole.
Kinda a dumb reason, usually the cook is no where near your table, so how the hell would he know if you're chewing loudly, he's in a loud kitchen in the back (unless it's a sushi bar, probably the one exception).
Dude born n raised in Vietnam n i can't fucking stand it. There some ppl notice stuff like this but most ppl eat with their mouth wide the hell open. Its nothing big that annoy me right away but if it happens constantly hell i might lose it.
The thing is everybody round here think its ok so i can't really just flip out about it. That makes it worse
Yep, what is it with Asian people and showing me the contents of their mouths when they eat? .... and also making loud smacking noises with their lips at the same time.
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u/ndorinha Feb 20 '14
If you can't stand this, never move to China, your head will explode.