A pair of straight
wooden,
plastic or
bamboo sticks used by most
asian people as an
eating utensil. Most
caucasians cannot
properly use
chopsticks, although they can learn. I was
lucky enough to have a
Japanese
tutor early in my
life.
More on chopsticks:
Contrary to popular american opinion chopsticks were not used by asian cultures because they "hadn't invented the fork". In actuallity the chinese had the fork long before the europeans (early europeans ate almost exclusivly with just a knife and
spoon). The use of chopsticks is primarily cultural. Most
asian cultures found spearing and carving up food at the table to be a barbaric
practice. All food was served "ready to eat" already in bite-sized peices. Chopsticks were considered an
elegant and (more importantly)
civilized way to eat ones meal. I am inclined to agree. I find eating with chopsticks preferable to
knife and
fork. I also live in a community where it is not uncommon for westerners to be seen eating with chopsticks, however I have impressed a few people (my
girlfriend included) with my chopstick skills. One
japanese friend of mine said "Damn Eli you use those things pretty well for a
gaijin!".