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Keep the quirky posts like this coming. They are just as fun to read and beneficial as the investing, lifestyle, and philanthropy posts!
#2 is bad because the only time you transfer things from chop sticks to chop sticks is when you pass the unburnt bones from a cremation from family member to family member. Inevitably all of the bones do not turn to ash, so things like thigh parts, and thicker bones do not burn all the way through. They are moved to the urn by hand.
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Hi K,
Understood. In my attempt to keep it simple I made it confusing. I'll clarify.
Thanks!
Tim
But Japanese and Korean chopsticks tend to be more pointed and don't meet at the ends when held together so you need proper technique.
Korean chopsticks are even worse as they are generally metal and slightly flattened, so they are tough to pick up slippery things with.
I've loved doing #1 in front of relatives and debunking stupid superstition. My Grandma used to bemoan people leaving food for the dead when there are poor people (this was in Bangkok, where the rich/poor divide on the same street is STARTLING!) who are so hungry, that food shouldn't go to waste.
Definitely helpful to have videos for this; spatial movement can't easily be understood by most in text alone.
Mega-cool pen tricks though.
trust me, you can shovel just fine using chopsticks. haven't you ever seen a japanese person lift a bowl of rice up to their face and just wolf it down? it's quite efficient.
Nice work Tim.
Cheers,
Ryan
Great post- this is totally something Kim and I could use. We're beginning our Asian guidebook series so this will come in very hand as we hit the continent. Keep em' coming.
Best,
Rob
Have you never seen Goku from DBZ eat? He's a beast with chopsticks.
Nice video Tim, I'll have to show my wife because she hasn't had as much practice and I'm a horrible teacher.
Jon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqFkYcjbF48
Awesome information. I really like how varried all of your posts are, but they all seem to fit under a niched down topic of "how to live a proper life"
Just got back from Costa Rica for the first time and I know what Pura Vida means now.
PEACE.
...just click "your profile" button in upper left and share the URL.
Interesting demonstration. I believe that you were doing better than a lot of "native users" (me for example).
Regards,
Joshua C
Awesome information. I really like how varried all of your posts are, but they all seem to fit under a niched down topic of "how to live a proper life"
Just got back from Costa Rica for the first time and I know what Pura Vida means now.
PEACE.
Forgot to write great post! Looking forward to seeing your next post!
Also love the pen tricks. I learned the helicopter back in college in about 1 solid day of non-stop pen flicking. I just kept on going until I got it. I think I made quite a few people hate me forever that day.
Hands on I bet you 10$ I reach your level in 7 days, ha!
Greets from Barcelona,
Luis M (rendez)
I've been spinning pens ever since junior high school (and that was over 15 years ago). In addition to what you call a "helicopter", I do a variation I call the "velicopter"; it is the exact same motion except the pen spins in the vertical plane, hence the "v". To up the ante, I combo the velicopter with pen-flip you demonstrate last.
Another great post, keep em coming!
Cheers
Jose
This time, I do not think you nailed it exactly. In Japan--and looks like people at your table--people use chopsticks this way: the bottom chopstick rests on your fourth (or ring) finger, not on the pinky. And the top chopstick is held the same way as you hold a pen, between second and third fingers. There are some variations from country to country, but pinky is never really used.
Cheers,
J
It's also fun to cook using the longer chopsticks popular with Asian chefs.
Japanese coworker: Wow! Andy! Oh my god, I can't believe you can use chopsticks - that's amazing!
Me: Really? I've used them all my life.
JC: I can't believe it! Hey, everyone look. Andy can use chopsticks. Isn't that great?
Me: Yeah, whatever. By the way, do you know how to use a fork?
JC: Of course, what do you mean?
Me: Wow! Great! etc...
Older Japanese people learned a good bit of nihonjinron in school, so they may have a hard time when confronted with evidence that non-Asians can learn their language and manipulate their tools. Younger people, on the other hand, tend to expect foreigners to figure Japan out rather quickly (which isn't all that unreasonable).
Anyway, cool post.
Try the left hand for a while to test your technique.
Many rural area-ed/young children in Asia tend to use incorrect methods of holding the chopsticks, as are Western countries with pencil holding.
FYI, all these have names!
Check out this site for all the info: http://www.pentrix.com/
Informative chopstick video and instructions. Unfortunately, I'm left-handed and I've never been able to find any left-handed chopsticks!!! ;-)
Arrrrrr. Captain Rob
I hold my chopsticks in a different way and I only realised it recently when I saw a Thomas the Tank training chopsticks. Someone showed me which finger goes where. I still do my old way but will try to relearn the "correct" way soon.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean food just doesn't taste the same without chopsticks with the exception of soup of course. That's not a normal spoon, but that's another story.
C
When I was ten, a Chinese waiter promised me that he could teach me to use chopsticks by the end of the meal. Amazingly, he did. Perhaps his ploy of not serving another dish until I had used my chopsticks successfully, did the trick!
Great chopstick video. Unfortunately I learned by having them around at a bank job when I was younger and just had them in my hand all day for a week.
I was more curious what you guys had on your table there in Vietnam??
It looks great!
I learned using chopsticks, by not allowing myself to use a fork or spoon for 30 days, but that video is very helpful.
You have crazy pen skills.
Do you know how to "walk" a coin down your hand. I always wanted to know how to do that with a quarter.
Love this stuff!
Rusty
What is your Pandora playing? How many stations do you have listed?
E
Another no-no is for two people to take food from a single bowl at the same time, or someone holding down a piece of food as another pulls from it (say separating pieces from one another), again for the same reasons as why you shouldn't pass food from chopstick to chopstick
Great notes on etiquette though, you don't see many people write about that enough.