The past week in class we discussed a few sociological theories and how they are used to study how society works and functions. One of the theories we learned was Max Weber's theory of symbolic interactionism. It studies sociology from a micro perspective and focuses on the use of symbols to understand the people around us. This theory reminded me of a quiz I took online recently about the table manners of different countries. I learned a lot of interesting things from the quiz. For instance, in China it is considered rude to eat everything on your plate because it means that the hostess did not give you enough food. Also, in England if there are no utensils you better eat with your hands, or it suggests to the cook that the food wasn't appetizing enough to dig into right away. In the United States no one would be offended if you asked for a fork, and eating everything on your plate is considered a compliment. The quiz really showed how in different societies symbols mean different things. If you are not used to being in a different country and not accustomed to their symbols, it is really easy to insult someone. I learned that symbols play a large part in your interactions with others.
Here's a link to the quiz. Let's see if you know your table manners.
http://www.fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf
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