June 10 , 2003 - page 3

Maybe my image stems from my interactions with my Japanese grandmother and great grandmother who are both very neat. Anyway, in my stay here in Japan I have found in some instances the Japanese are very neat, yet with in others they are not – a definite dichotomy exists. For example in my recent visit to the doctor’s office I found it impeccably clean. However, in the same office I noticed that the nurses were not wearing gloves when taking blood or giving injections to patients. Another example that I have noticed in my home is that while my host mother slaves over mopping and dusting the house, she has no problem leaving raw fish or other foods that easily spoil out on the kitchen table for several hours. It boggles me how on one hand the Japanese are very neat, yet at the same time they can be so haphazard.

Table manners have also proven to be another major difference between the Japanese and American cultures. Some of the Japanese manners are very different than what I was used to doing. But as they say “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” I try to take heed to this statement by taking part in as many aspects of Japanese culture as I can, but some of these customs were tough for me to swallow. For example, slurping up noodles in Japan is a sign that they are delicious.

When I first saw people doing this I wondered why they did so, but after inquiring I soon learned the custom. It's also a Japanese manner to pick up the rice bowl, while eating from it. This was the most difficult thing for me to do. I just didn’t feel comfortable picking up a bowl and eating from it; I wanted to leave it on the table. Finally, after countless reminders from my host mother I'm now doing this consistently. I've also noticed that often Japanese put enormous amounts of food into their mouths in a single bite. This could be a result of the awkwardness of taking small bites while holding food in place