Sharing meals (food) is an
important part of diplomacy, relationship building. I wrote in earlier posts about Former Secretary of State Clinton talking about
meals as an element of diplomacy and about
a book written about Winston Churchill’s use of meals as a way of
gathering and sharing information.
We think of meals as time to
get to know people. From a protocol and
a practical perspective we think of meals in terms of check lists. Colors, centerpieces, what to serve. Planning the menu. No beef if your guests are
from India. No pork for almost any
group. We want to be aware of, respectful
of food in terms of religious beliefs.
But a recent article “Lessons
in Culture from Twenty-Four Japanese Hula Dancers http://wp.me/pnmlQ-1bc” reminded me that the amount
of food we serve can also be culturally sensitive. In many countries, cultures, we show our
respect, interest in friendship and connection by serving generous amounts of
food. We may have to leave some food in
our dish to indicate that host was go generous that we couldn’t possible
consume all that they offered. The
abundance of what’s offered is given to make the guest feel special and
welcome.
A lovely thought unless the
abundance makes the uncomfortable. The story of the hula dancers" reaction to the generosity of the author points out the Enough can sometimes be
Too Much.
It’s hard to think that what
one culture thinks as generosity can be seen as wasteful excess to another. If our goal is to build connections, have our
colleagues and guests feel honored and respected, its one more thing we must
consider. How much is too much?
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