(Cue rambling on the topic.) I had this conversation with friends once, because it's such a basic cultural thing that it doesn't even register as culture shock for people. When I studied abroad in Hirakata-shi, we would try to order the Chicken Ryuudon with no cup-o-mayo or nori on it, just the chicken and the rice, from the school cafeteria. It took about 15 tries, repeating "MAYO NASHI. NORI NASHI." nonstop, and at one point actually reaching in to grab the bowl away from the poor old lady preparing it as she was about to slap on a scoop of mayonnaise. She was utterly floored that we would want it without all the essentials.
The US is totally built around choice, what sides do you want, what dressing, would you like fries with that, an awareness of allergies and dislikes. In Japanese schools, on the other hand, they start kids off in kindergarten with a constant refrain of "Sukikirai wa dame!" (i.e. "no dislikes allowed, eat it all") so that kids will all happily eat whatever they're given, or at least force down the stuff they hate without complaining too much. I watched a 3rd grade girl once sob because she was brutally forced to EAT DELICIOUS CAKE as dessert with the kyuushoku, and yet she sat there for 45 minutes after everyone else had left, slowly eating microscopic bites of it as tears ran down her cheeks.
A friend (who had studied Japanese since junior high, and was pretty fluent) who hated peanuts tried to get a sundae in Kyoto without them, and it actually lead to having the manager called over to explain to him that the sundae came with peanuts, you were paying for peanuts, ergo peanuts you got. I think you did the only thing that is even possible most of the time, which is order it as is and scrape off what you don't like despite the reactions from other people, or else order something that you can eat the whole thing. ^^;
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Date: 2007-09-30 04:01 pm (UTC)The US is totally built around choice, what sides do you want, what dressing, would you like fries with that, an awareness of allergies and dislikes. In Japanese schools, on the other hand, they start kids off in kindergarten with a constant refrain of "Sukikirai wa dame!" (i.e. "no dislikes allowed, eat it all") so that kids will all happily eat whatever they're given, or at least force down the stuff they hate without complaining too much. I watched a 3rd grade girl once sob because she was brutally forced to EAT DELICIOUS CAKE as dessert with the kyuushoku, and yet she sat there for 45 minutes after everyone else had left, slowly eating microscopic bites of it as tears ran down her cheeks.
A friend (who had studied Japanese since junior high, and was pretty fluent) who hated peanuts tried to get a sundae in Kyoto without them, and it actually lead to having the manager called over to explain to him that the sundae came with peanuts, you were paying for peanuts, ergo peanuts you got. I think you did the only thing that is even possible most of the time, which is order it as is and scrape off what you don't like despite the reactions from other people, or else order something that you can eat the whole thing. ^^;