Another cultural difference

While eating out tonight at a wonderful Indian restaurant in a different part of town with Kait and friends, I couldn't help but take note of an interesting cultural difference between western culture and Korean culture (and perhaps East-Asian cultures at large). The difference is eating, or rather, how we eat. While having a discussion after we finished our delicious dinner, we had to laugh a bit about some Korean diners who were seated at a table near us; they were what I like to call "smackers." By that I mean, they "smack" their lips very noticeably - and unapologetically - when they eat. I can remember when I was in fourth grade, I instantly developed an antipathy toward someone simply for their propensity to smacking. This just goes to show how deeply it is ingrained in the average western person. But here, I think that it is generally believed to enhance the taste of a given meal. We had a discussion about how the smacking perhaps causes the air from your mouth to waft up to your nose, giving you more of a smelling sensation when you eat, or maybe the smacking itself causes people to enjoy the sound of eating, adding another sense to the dining experience. In any case, we all know that the Korean diners were not being impolite (this is not the first time we have noticed this), it is just their way of eating. However, knowing that doesn't necessarily prevent the sound from getting under one's skin... I guess it's one of those differences that are bound to exist between people of two cultures.