Darcy Duong Second-Place Basic Essay, 1998-99

Closed Eyes

I can remember my first time eating at a Thai restaurant with my friends. I have eaten

Thai food before, but never at this restaurant. All of us were very hungry, so when the waitress

brought us our appetizers, which was fried shrimp, we all ate quickly. I picked up a pair of

chopsticks and started to eat. But my friends were having trouble holding theirs, because they

asked me how to hold chopsticks the right way. No one has ever asked me that question before,

so when I tried to show and explain them how - I couldn't. Besides the spoon, the chopstick is

the second food utensil I learned to use ever since I was young. I never realized that using

chopsticks was like a reflex to me. Even cultural food etiquette can play a significant role in

people's thinking habits. Nevertheless, people's culture and customs are so natural to them, that

they're unconscious of other different cultures.

Even so, a difference in customs isn't necessarily a bad thing. When you realize that

your own culture isn't similar with other ones, you get an unusual awareness of culture shock.

As a matter of fact, three years ago I was invited to my friend's birthday party. The night was

coming to an end, so we planned to cut the cake and then we'd all head home.

The dessert that night was a white vanilla ice cream cake. The chocolate cake (which

was in the inside) had a layer of red cherry-flavored gel with pieces of cherries between the two

layers of cake. The cake, gel and cherry pieces were slightly hardened because of the cold ice

cream and refrigeration. As we took the cake out of the refrigerator and it sat on the kitchen

counter, the white ice cream started to melt at the sides. On top of the round cake was an outer

edge ring of cold whip cream with chocolate sprinkles on top of it. Next was an inner ring of

cherries with chocolate shavings and curls. The writing on the cake was made from the same

cherry gel as in the middle. To top it ail, red, waxy candles stood in groups around the writing.

After my friend made a wish and blew out the candles, she started to cut the cake and

pass out the pieces. According to Vietnamese customs, adults are served their food first, then the

children are next. In addition, at dinner time the children are not allowed to touch the food until

all the adults are present and had at least taken a bite of the food first; then everyone can eat. For

the Vietnamese, a person with age is respected, and this includes parents as well. So when the

first two pieces were cut, I took them and walked towards the living room.

A friend must have seen me walking out of the kitchen. She asked me, "Where are you

going?"

"To the living room," I answered her.

"But we're all eating in the kitchen," she said.

"I know, but I thought your parents would like to eat a piece of cake; I can go give it to

them," I replied.

I noticed everyone stopped what they were doing and watched our conversation, which

made me feel uncomfortable.

Then she said, "Why? If they want some, they can get it for themselves."

"But in my culture we serve the adults first...." I said and trailed off. Other than that, I

didn't really know what else to say.

All she could say was, "Don't worry about them."

So I returned to the kitchen with the two pieces of cake, feeling a little foolish. When the

parents came in to help themselves with the cake I felt uneasy, as if we were lazy. But I didn't

say anything.

There are times when you forget about cultures and its impact on people. For example, at

school, you tend to ignore food culture. But there are times where you need to realize that not

everyone has the same food traditions as you do. At my middle school, it was required to take a

home economics class. On the first day of class, we were learning about food utensils. The

teacher was showing us all these different utensils and the students had to tell her aloud the

names of them. I was the only minority in the class and the only quiet one, too. I have never

seen most of those utensils until then. After the utensil display, the class was tested on it. I was

lucky that a girl I was sitting next to helped me through the test. At my house all I knew and

used were: chopsticks, fork, knife, spoon and a soup spoon.

Next, the teacher wanted to test the class on how much we already knew about table

setting. The square table that we used and was tested on had a sky blue rectangle shaped

tablecloth draped over it. On the table was a brown, wicker basket full of eating utensils (forks,

spoons and knives), and stakes of navy blue bowls and plates that we had to put in its proper

place. In the small, cramped classroom, there were four separate tables all set up in the same

way. After the class split up into groups per table, everyone in the group had to set the table.

Everyone in my group knew how to do and finish quickly. I went last and knew the least.

Again, my group had to help show me where the utensils and bowls were supposed to go. At the

end of this quiz, I felt a little stupid. I had no idea that setting a table the American way was

complicated.

Occasionally I would go to fast food drive-thrus to eat, but I've never sat down and

dinned at an American restaurant until my friends took me to one. Before that day I usually went

to Asian restaurants, which I was used to going to. When I went inside the restaurant I instantly

smelled this strange odor. Since I have a poor sense of smell, all I could make of it was a warm,

yet heavy scent that didn't stink.

Inside I saw a lot of booths, which I wasn't used to seeing. The restaurant also had a lot

of windows next to the booths that were full of people eating. To me, the walls had a lot of tall

and big windows. All around the walls and tables, I kept seeing white signs with black and red

letters that says NO SMOKING everywhere. In the restaurants where I eat, there's always a

smoking section. In most cases, you can smoke anywhere in the restaurant.

As the hostess came and led us to our table, I felt dark, small and short compared to

everyone else. Even my friends were taller and bigger that I was. I also saw a lot of noisy kids

running around, yelling. In Asian cultures, parents don't tolerate outbursts from their children in

public places. So if the child would yell and attract a scene, they would be lightly scolded by

their parents, and then get their punishment when they got home. Here, I saw parents scolding

their children in public. The atmosphere was a mixture of busy waitresses and loud customers

talking.

Our table was in the middle of the restaurant. It was a wooden square shaped table with a

burgundy tablecloth draped over it. There were four napkins placed on the table with a knife,

fork and spoon laying on them. In the middle of the table was a metal napkin holder, a small

beige colored ceramic tray of salt and sugar packets and a metal dish that held three separate

types (maple, strawberry and blueberry) of syrup. I was very relieved that the table didn't have

all the bowls and plates similar to my home economics class.

When I looked through the menu, I was surprised to see the meals had side dishes and the

main course already arranged to eat. Almost every meal had a large amount of meats and dairy

products with it. The desserts gave you a selection of cakes, pies or ice cream. In Asian

restaurants most of the dishes are served so they can be shared. For instance, in the middle of the

table the food is served on large plates or bowls and then everyone can help themselves to

anything they want to eat from the each dish. Most of the time, the dishes have a consist and

equal amount of vegetables and meat. As for the desserts, they're usually cold fruit beverages in

a light, watered down syrup that came from the fruit itself.

When the waitress came out with all of the food at once, I was surprised. I was used to

dining at Asian restaurants that only bring out half of the dishes ordered at a time, with a long

break in between the second serving of the food. I ordered a plate of biscuits with gravy and

sausage. When the plate was set in front of me I smelled an odor I've never knew before. The

two round biscuits were warm and soft like pizza dough and was the color of cream. The gravy

was the color of ranch salad dressing with some grounded pepper mixed in it; this was poured

over the biscuits and it was also hot. At times when I ate the biscuits and gravy, it got caught in

my throat. The two, small sausage links were lightly burned a brown color and I could taste the

salt in them too. Like the rest of the meal, it was hot as if it was just finished cooking.

After I finished the meal I felt sluggish and heavy, as if I gained five pounds. I wasn't

used to that feeling either. It's probably because Asian food is based on noodles, vegetables and

other fiber foods, while American food has a lot of servings of meat and dairy products. When

the waitress brought us our dessert I didn't even want to touch it. But I had already ordered it

and it was sitting right in front of me after all. The pie was made of chocolate cream with

chocolate syrup and white whip cream on top. When I ate a small piece of it, I could taste the

chocolate and the sugar melt in my mouth. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't finish it. I

was used to eating fruit for a dessert, not sugar. After the meal and dessert, I didn't eat for the

rest of the day.

All in all, American food custom is very different from my culture. People comment on

how other people don't understand or know other people's culture. But do those same people

know other cultures besides their own? Not too many people even bother to experience other

cultures, which isn't always their fault. Some things that people grew up with and are used to,

with their culture, they take for granted without even knowing it. But food customs is always an

interesting etiquette to beginning to introduce yourself to other cultures. Once you notice the

differences with your own food culture, the more you'll be open to try new foods and restaurants.