Sluorping

Had a conference call which took me way over lunch time... 1 hour 22 minutes over to be exact. Lunch hour starts at noon and over here, there is no reason not to eat. At around 11:45am, the chatter from my colleagues begins, "Where to eat?" and by 11:59am, everyone leaves to go eat at their chosen place.

Anyway, I went to get lunch after that call at a nearby eatery. It was not crowded anymore. Lunch time is over. Was eating my food, when I became aware that somebody else was chomping away loudly. I turned to look... a lady, enjoying her food with relish.

I smiled. I did.

Must be something to do with living in China for what? Almost seven months now? I actually think this loud 'sluorping' of food is totally acceptable. Where before I would have frowned and think it is unacceptable, un-cultured and rude, like the culturally acceptable way of slurping up your noodles in Japan, 'sluorping' up a plate of rice is now ok!

I like the way people here tuck into their food. Food comes to the table, you eat it while it's hot, in any way you want. No pretense, no nonsense. Eat.

And I like it, because I think you are suppose to eat this way - get food into your mouth and enjoy it without worrying about drips, making no sound or not being able to spit out the wrong bits.

Nice!