Cultural Norms

So I was Googling stuff up on Brazillian etiquette and cultural norms to better understand the gestures I’ve found common during Capoeira, when I found this site. It was pretty interesting and explained a few confusions. For example:

To beckon someone, extend your palm face down and wave your fingers toward your body.

To me this motion looked like a funny sort of wave, so I always would wave back when my instructor would do this to me. Am realizing now he would only stop “waving” once I walked over to him, haha.

Anyway, curiosity got the best me and I decided to check out their page on the Philippines to see how foreign some of the customs were to me. A lot of it was surprisingly familiar and made me laugh. Here are some of the highlighted tips listed:

• Arrive 15 to 20 minutes after the time given in the invitation.
  Or as we affectionately call it, this is also known as Filipino time.
• “Have you eaten?” is a popular greeting, equivalent to “How are you?” in North America.
  Hah, many of my friends can attest to this one. This really is the greeting you hear when you enter my family’s house.
• A fork and spoon are the standard utensils. Keep the fork in your left hand and use it for placing food onto the spoon, which should be held in your right hand.
  Ah! So this is why my mom taught me to eat this way! And this is also explains why Ryan gives me a funny look when I pull a spoon out to eat with dinner…
• If you leave a “clean plate”, your host will probably assume that you haven’t been provided enough to eat.
  Hah, I’ve found this to be pretty true at Filipino family parties. I soon learned as a kid to always keep something on my plate at all times lest an auntie spot me and begin inquiring if I didn’t like the food or if I hadn’t had enough.

And my favorite:

• You may observe people hissing in restaurants; this is a common way of beckoning servers.
  Haha, pssst… Yeah, many a time I’ve been beckoned this way. I just can’t imagine this in an entire restaurant. Too funny.

Yeah. Guess I have more Filipino culture in me than I think.