1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,460 Visita Mikael Books en Facebook para ver más contenido de libros en inglés. 2 00:00:04,620 --> 00:00:08,040 Unit 4, page 52. Read. 3 00:00:09,300 --> 00:00:12,240 What we should and shouldn't have done. 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,360 A few months ago, my company sent me to work at our branch office in Japan. 5 00:00:19,340 --> 00:00:26,260 My colleague Masayuki and Yukiko, his wife, invited my wife Helen and me out to dinner one night. 6 00:00:26,260 --> 00:00:32,500 Although they were very polite and friendly, we didn't feel that the evening went all that smoothly. 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,180 In fact, we had the impression that we'd made some mistakes in etiquette. 8 00:00:38,140 --> 00:00:40,260 I asked my friend Junichi about our experience. 9 00:00:41,420 --> 00:00:46,400 He's lived in Japan and the United States, so he knows the cultural differences. 10 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:52,600 He gave me several pointers, so now we know what we should and shouldn't have done at the dinner. 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,240 Junichi's first tip was about shoes. 12 00:00:56,260 --> 00:00:57,740 His second pointer was about shoes and sitting down. 13 00:00:58,620 --> 00:01:05,740 Some Japanese restaurants have Western-style furniture, but our restaurant had pillows you sit down on. 14 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,180 We knew you're supposed to take your shoes off in a Japanese home. 15 00:01:10,980 --> 00:01:15,580 It never occurred to us, though, that we should take them off when we sat down on the pillows. 16 00:01:16,740 --> 00:01:19,380 Junichi said we definitely ought to have done that. 17 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,880 His second pointer was all about chopsticks. 18 00:01:23,420 --> 00:01:26,240 We'd both used them a couple of times at Asian restaurants. 19 00:01:26,260 --> 00:01:33,040 In the United States, albeit not very skillfully, and we thought we knew the rules for using them. 20 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:42,300 However, I saw Masayuki grimace a bit when I used a chopstick to spear a piece of meat from a bowl and pass it to Helen. 21 00:01:42,980 --> 00:01:49,220 He grimaced again when Helen used one of her chopsticks to point at a bowl of food she thought was tasty. 22 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:51,220 Junichi chuckled. 23 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,220 One thing you absolutely mustn't do is use a chopstick. 24 00:01:56,780 --> 00:01:59,960 To spear food and pass it to someone else. 25 00:02:00,620 --> 00:02:05,940 That reminds Japanese people of the custom of passing cremated bones at a funeral. 26 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,300 And you must never point with a chopstick. 27 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,620 We continued to make a few more blunders. 28 00:02:13,140 --> 00:02:17,320 I took a bottle of soy sauce on the table and poured it all over my rice. 29 00:02:18,180 --> 00:02:21,100 Yukiko seemed a bit shocked when she saw what I was doing. 30 00:02:21,740 --> 00:02:23,200 Junichi chuckled again. 31 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,200 You shouldn't ever pour soy sauce directly. 32 00:02:26,780 --> 00:02:27,660 On to your food. 33 00:02:28,540 --> 00:02:34,860 What you have to do is pour soy into a little dish next to your plate and then dip your food into it. 34 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,960 And you've also got to be careful not to waste the soy. 35 00:02:39,460 --> 00:02:41,900 Just pour a small amount of it into the dish. 36 00:02:42,820 --> 00:02:45,120 Then I remembered another point of etiquette. 37 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,220 Do you have to finish everything on your plate? 38 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:49,560 I asked Junichi. 39 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,840 Towards the end of the meal, Helen still had some food left. 40 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,000 But then our waiter brought her some more. 41 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:02,940 If you've finished everything, that basically means you're satisfied with the meal and don't want any more. 42 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:09,880 If you still have food on your plate, you're signaling that you want another helping, replied Junichi. 43 00:03:10,620 --> 00:03:14,140 The next pointer was about not using your handkerchief. 44 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:20,520 I'd been suffering from allergies for a week or so, and suddenly I felt I had to blow my nose. 45 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,200 I got out my handkerchief and did so. 46 00:03:23,580 --> 00:03:26,200 Both Masayuki and Yukiko again. 47 00:03:26,260 --> 00:03:27,860 And looked somewhat surprised. 48 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,640 What did I do wrong, I asked. 49 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:32,300 Junichi responded, 50 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,220 You're not supposed to blow your nose in public. 51 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,280 It's not considered appropriate. 52 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:39,440 What should I have done? 53 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:40,660 I was desperate. 54 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,440 Well, you could have gotten up and gone to the toilet. 55 00:03:44,940 --> 00:03:46,380 Or you could have sniffled. 56 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:48,860 I thought that sounded odd. 57 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:50,100 Sniffled? 58 00:03:50,660 --> 00:03:55,720 Yes, it's considered acceptable to sniffle to avoid blowing your nose. 59 00:03:56,860 --> 00:03:58,300 Finally, the dinner was over. 60 00:03:59,020 --> 00:04:03,660 As we got up to leave, I asked Masayuki if we could split the bill with him. 61 00:04:04,300 --> 00:04:07,280 He looked troubled and said, no, no. 62 00:04:08,060 --> 00:04:10,540 He and Yukiko walked ahead of us to pay. 63 00:04:11,220 --> 00:04:14,580 I said to Helen, well, hadn't we better leave a tip? 64 00:04:15,420 --> 00:04:18,060 She nodded, so I left some cash on the table. 65 00:04:18,540 --> 00:04:21,940 Just as we were putting our coats on at the restaurant entrance, 66 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,980 our waiter came running up to us and handed me back the money. 67 00:04:26,260 --> 00:04:29,160 When I asked Junichi about it, he said, 68 00:04:29,460 --> 00:04:31,680 You're not supposed to leave tips in Japan. 69 00:04:32,220 --> 00:04:33,600 It's not common at all. 70 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,400 I asked what we might do to express our appreciation to Masayuki and Yukiko. 71 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,180 Shall we reciprocate by inviting Masayuki and Yukiko out? 72 00:04:44,780 --> 00:04:46,840 Yes, I think you ought to do that. 73 00:04:47,860 --> 00:04:50,500 Junichi had given me good advice, I thought. 74 00:04:50,740 --> 00:04:55,900 What really struck me is how much we all have to learn about other cultures. 75 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:19,160 I also thought it was all a kind of 76 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,220 I have the ambition to make them feel better. 77 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:25,340 I'm not a messenger. 78 00:05:25,340 --> 00:05:25,620 I'm not a bookworm. 79 00:05:25,620 --> 00:05:25,820 I'm not a writer. 80 00:05:25,820 --> 00:05:25,900 I'm not a poet. 81 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:26,060 I'm not a poet. 82 00:05:26,060 --> 00:05:26,160 I'm not a poet. 83 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:26,180 I'm not a poet. 84 00:05:26,180 --> 00:05:26,240 I'm not a poet.