Chopstick exams

Maciamo · 1 Nov 2006

JTalker said:
I have an idea: Plant more trees!

It takes decades for trees to reach their adult size, but only minutes to fall them. Mind you, if it was so easy why do you think we would talk so much about deforestation (e.g. in the Amazon).

Incidentally, I think that most of the wood used for Japanese chopsticks comes from Indonesia...

craftsman · 1 Nov 2006

Maciamo said:
Incidentally, I think that most of the wood used for Japanese chopsticks comes from Indonesia...

It says this in the article I linked in an earlier post. It may be a reliable statistic or it may not - but I don't think the trees care where they live at the time someone chops them.

At present, about 500 million pairs of chopsticks are manufactured in Japan, a fraction of the 24.8 billion pairs - waribashi, as they are called - used each year. China provides almost 98% of Japan's chopsticks, something officials ascribe to the high cost of Japanese timber.

Maciamo · 1 Nov 2006

I doubt that Japan imports all its tropical wood or wooden chopsticks from only one country. The article you linked refers only to manufactured chopsticks, not raw material to be processed in Japan. Given that only North-East Asian countries have a tradition of eating with chopsticks, it seems normal that they are not manufactured in Indonesia or elsewhere but China. But it doesn't mean that the wood itself comes from Chinese forests, especially when we know that most of Northern and Western China is desert or fairly barren, and the rest in densely populated. The article from the Asia Times also mention Russian forests, but my guess is that a big percentage is imported from Indonesia, as this article suggests.

Another article says that Japan imports its hardwood mostly from southeast Asia (Borneo and Sumatra have the biggest rainforest in SE Asia) and its timber from North America. I am not sure which wood is used for waribashi, but it is undeniable that Japanese demand for wood in general is the major cause for deforestation in Indonesia, be it directly or indirectly (via China).

DoctorP · 2 Nov 2006

The problem with China and the Amazon is that trees were being cleared and never replanted. In Japan and the US, it is common practice to replant right after clear cutting an area.

ArmandV · 2 Nov 2006

Trees used for chopsticks are crops. Simple as that.

I learned how to use chopsticks during a field trip to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles in my senior year in high school. I use them at least once a week. Now it is just "second nature" to use them.

AsakuraNeo10 · 2 Nov 2006

sorry, may i interupt?

what will you get if you passed the chopstick exam?

Kinsao · 3 Nov 2006

^ Perhaps you get a free meal at a posh restaurant!

My mum said that at her school (in England) they used to get told off if they didn't use their knife and fork properly... but this has pretty well died out in England (I dunno about private schools though ). As long as you can get food to your mouth and don't eat noisily and disgustingly it seems like anything goes for knife and fork use...

I tried using chopsticks only a few times and found them quite easy to use immediately; if you have a good manual dexterity it's no problem (and even less for native Japanese who's been brought up using them ) although such an exam could be a bit hard on people who don't have really brilliant manual/motor skills (kinda like my friend who's Japanese but doesn't use chopsticks in the exact 'correct' way :S). ☝

craftsman · 4 Nov 2006

Kinsao said:
My mum said that at her school (in England) they used to get told off if they didn't use their knife and fork properly

You must never, ever, under no circumstances put your knife in your mouth to lick off the the bits of gravy sitting on it. This was a taboo so grave to break that the dinner lady made you had to eat up all your mashed potato and mushy peas in punishment.

I think I would pass my knife and fork exams.

ArmandV · 4 Nov 2006

craftsman said:
I think I would pass my knife and fork exams.

Would they call the school Fork U?

Kinsao · 4 Nov 2006

craftsman said:
You must never, ever, under no circumstances put your knife in your mouth to lick off the the bits of gravy sitting on it. This was a taboo so grave to break that the dinner lady made you had to eat up all your mashed potato and mushy peas in punishment.
I think I would pass my knife and fork exams.

And you mustn't turn your fork upside down to scoop (like with a spoon) even if you are eating peas. You are supposed to make them balance on the back of the fork.

Armand V : LOL!

craftsman · 4 Nov 2006

Kinsao said:
And you mustn't turn your fork upside down to scoop (like with a spoon) even if you are eating peas. You are supposed to make them balance on the back of the fork.

I think we can safely say that if there were knife and fork exams, you would graduate with flying colours.
How about trying a chop stick test based on the Mr.Miyagi (The Karate Kid movie) style of catching a fly in mid air? Now that would be a test I would have respect for.

DoctorP · 4 Nov 2006

Kinsao said:
And you mustn't turn your fork upside down to scoop (like with a spoon) even if you are eating peas. You are supposed to make them balance on the back of the fork.

So I guess stabbing them with your fork is out of the question right?
Or maybe just mixing your green peas with your mashed potatoes to make them easier to pick up?

Kinsao · 6 Nov 2006

CC1 said:
So I guess stabbing them with your fork is out of the question right?
Or maybe just mixing your green peas with your mashed potatoes to make them easier to pick up?

No no, not out of the question - what you're meant to do is stab a row of peas onto your fork, and use those as a kind of barrier to prevent others from rolling off the end of your fork.

I can't believe I have all this useless information buried deep inside my brain!

I doubt I'd pass a knife and fork exam though - I'm too lazy to bother, so I just scoop them up the 'wrong' way. I don't think anyone notices these days unless you're having dinner with the queen or something.

I'm pretty sure mixing them with your mash would be frowned upon in some circles, though...

Chopstick exams

Maciamo

先輩

craftsman

************

Maciamo

先輩

DoctorP

先輩

ArmandV

Eight Times To Japan

AsakuraNeo10

Kouhai

Kinsao

Horizon Rider

craftsman

************

ArmandV

Eight Times To Japan

Kinsao

Horizon Rider

craftsman

************

DoctorP

先輩

Kinsao

Horizon Rider

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