TOKYO —While the Internet in
general is known for being a bottomless cauldron
of hate, nothing quite gets Japanese netizens
seething like South Korea.
Case in point: the
Japanese Internet is raging over a video of a young South Korean woman
eating instant noodles because she has bad table manners.
The video is
actually part of a promotional series for Shin Ramyun instant
noodles in which members of Korean girl group T-ARA share their
favorite home recipes. The clip in question features member Park Ji-yeon, who
divulges that she prefers to stick
with the orthodox recipe and proceeds to show viewers how to prepare Shin
Ramyun according to the directions on the package.
From about 0:50, the
video pans to Ji-yeon sitting down to eat her finished meal when suddenly,
for reasons unexplained, she removes the lid of the pot with one hand, plunges her chopsticks directly into
the pot with the other, lifts up a mass of noodles and plops them down on the overturned lid as if it were a plate
before transferring them into her cute little mouth.
This, ladies and
gentlemen, was enough to raise a furore
among Japanese net users, who wasted no words in bashing Ji-yeon for her
“disgusting table manners,” while others expressed a renewed appreciation of
Japanese manners. One of the current top comments is supported by 15 “likes”
for saying that “eating straight from the pot like this is worse than beggars
going to receive their food rations.”
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VOCABULARY
1.
Cauldron - a large round
metal pot for boiling liquids over a fire
2.
Netizens -
someone who uses the Internet, especially someone who uses it in a
responsible way
3.
Divulges -
to give someone information that should be secret [= reveal]
4.
Plunges -
to move, fall, or be thrown suddenly forwards or downwards
5.
Plops - to
fall somewhere, making a sound like something dropping into water
6.
Furore - a
sudden expression of anger among a large group of people about something that
has happened
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
How do you feel after reading the article? Were
you enraged too?
2.
Do you think her way of eating noodles is not
proper?
3.
Tell us how do Japanese eat noodles? Why make
the sound?
4.
Name different kinds of noodles in Japan?
5.
What do you think about cup noodles?
