I have never heard anyone ever say Koreans were sofisticated

I don't eat out often. Usually only on dates. Reasons include cost, lack of trust that the kitchen staff are preparing the food with a modicum of hygiene, and I don't like watching Koreans eat....especially the men.

Nyom nyom nyom nyom

It is bad enough that they do not chew with their mouths open. But that just gives me an opportunity to devote all my attention to my date. Koreans appear, all too often, to have a contest to see who can shove more food into their cakeholes and still carry on a conversation. You really can't get away from the sound.

I can still remember my mother's voice telling me to chew with my mouth closed...don't talk with your mouth full...don't use the salad fork for the main course (even that level of table manners is way over Koreans' heads).

Korean parents do not teach their children table manners...wait....what do they teach them? Not to throw garbage of the ground? No. Keep the noise down in public places? No. Don't slam doors and gates? No. Not run around in crowded places? No. Etc... ad infinitum. They do send them to 20 hogwons a week. That counts for parenting, doesn't it?

Back to the restaurant...the sounds they make when they eat really make me sick. Smack, smack, smack...nyom nyom nyom. And the sounds they make when they drink...like those two Pepsi ads. Then we have burping, picking their teeth at the table....I can't continue.

Ever been to a buffet in Korea? It's like feeding time. And they can stand hovering above the food, talking over it, minute particles of spittle falling on the food. Last time I was at a buffet (2001), I was going to get ice cream until the kid in front of me sneezed on it in the freezer.

That's it. Talk amongst yourselves.