To finish or not to finish?

“The English believe it is a slur on the hosts if one don’t clear his/her plate.”
“The Chinese believe that their generosity is questioned if, as a host, their guests clears their plate.”

I vaguely remember this situation that I saw of a dinner meeting between a British businessman and a group of Chinese businessmen having dinner in a Cantonese restaurant. Being generous hosts that the Chinese businessmen were, they ordered the most expensive delicacy that was served in that restaurant - smoked eel. While the Englishman did not find the delicacy appealing, he felt obliged to finish his plate of food and went on to clear every last bit of the food served. Not wanting to seem stingy, the Chinese businessmen then ordered another serving of the same for the Englishman, who was petrified by the thought of having to finish another plate of the smoked eel.

In this intercultural situation, we can see how the 2 different cultures might clash when their beliefs are put together. As stated at the beginning of this blog post, the differences in the norms that the English and the Chinese subscribe to are the reasons for the above awkward scenario, with the Englishman forcing himself to clear a plate of what did not appeal to him, and the Chinese businessmen ordering another plate because they’re culturally obliged to do so.

With the world becoming increasingly globalized, it might very well be in our best interests to understand others’ cultures before engaging in any intercultural situation so that awkward situations like the one mentioned above can be avoided.