In many cases, you have a chance to eat at a restaurant when you go abroad. At restaurants, you might feel like you’ve ordered and eaten at the menu. However, the restaurant is a place that reflects the culture of each country. Here are some customs for eating in the US, China and Belgium.
America
As is well known, American restaurants basically have to pay a tip. These chips are paid to the waiter in addition to the price of the meal they eat, and roughly 20% of the price of the meal is the price of the chip. In other words, if you eat 1,000 yen, you will pay 1,200 yen.
This tip is also important for the waiter because it will become pocket money for the waiter. If you accidentally fail to pay, you can even fight.
Approximate 20%
Although it is not fixed at 20%, a minimum of 15% must be paid. In the United States, you do not go to the cash register and often do accounting at the table, but when you get a receipt, you decide how much you want to pay after calculating the tip. It’s okay if you write good numbers without sticking to 20%. For example, if you eat 1,200 yen, 240 yen will be 20%, so you can add 240 yen to 1,200 yen and pay 1,450 yen or 1,500 yen, for example.
Tip is not required for fast food restaurants
However, for foreigners who are not accustomed to tipping, the tip feels very expensive, so it may not be easy to pay. If you want to eat something but don’t want to pay for chips, go to fast food. With fast food, you don’t have to pay for chips.
Basically, you pay for yourself
When you go out to eat with friends in Japan, you basically pay for yourself. However, it is not uncommon for older people to pay for meals with older people. In the United States, I feel that there is a strong tendency to pay for yourself basically even if you are older.
Also, for example, it is a common sight in Japan that when a friend comes from a distance, the paying party pays, but in the United States that is not considered much. I often see people paying for themselves.
China
When you see people around you in a Chinese restaurant, you can often see many people leaving their seats after leaving a large amount of food. Even in fast food restaurants, it’s not uncommon to leave more than half of what you buy and go home.
It ’s good manners to leave!?
In China, it is said that “you should not eat up to show your full stomach”. However, when I ask a Chinese friend, there are not a few people who think that it’s a waste to leave and leave, so it doesn’t seem to mean that even a restaurant must be left without eating.
Even if dishes still remain on the plate
However, because there are many people who go home without eating too much, if you are immersed in conversation with friends while leaving food when you eat, you can lower the dishes you have not eaten There are often. Just like Japan, you are not always asked if you want to lower it. My husband has had beer lowered when he went to the bar. It is unthinkable in Japan that you can lower the glass with beer left at the bar.
So if you have to stand up with food and drinks left, the accompanying person must guard them.
One person pays everything
China has a culture of resentment. It is common for one person to pay for the entire meal, no matter how many people go to eat. Also, “I will pay” and “No, I am” are common.
The person who wins this exchange will pay for all meals. This is a Chinese culture, meaning that another person will pay for the next meal, and that they will have the opportunity to meet again because “I pay.” Of course, there are people who say “I will pay” every time.
By the way, no chip is needed in China.
China is difficult for Westerners to understand
In particular, such a feasting culture seems to be hard to understand for Western people who basically pay for themselves. There are many Westerners who inadvertently pay only for their own money and are seen by Chinese people with white eyes. There is no help for it because of cultural differences, but it’s scary to get misunderstood where you don’t know.
By the way, it seems that there is not much concept of “please with everyone” for souvenirs in China. One souvenir is given to one person, and some people regard it as an underestimation of how much he / she is. In Japan, you sometimes buy souvenirs for people at work. In such cases, caution is required in China.
Belgium
Belgian people like to talk about politics and international affairs while drinking. So when you go to the bar, you can spend many hours drinking many glasses of liquor.
Payment method for drinking with friends
In Western bars, it is normal to pay for each cup, and in such a case, for example, the first drink is paid by this person, the second is paid by this person, etc. It seems to go often. Of course, there are also drinks with different prices at all, so you may pay for yourself, but you still pay for rotation to value your friendship There is also a thing.
Is a tip necessary?
By the way, Belgian chips are case-by-case. The price on the menu may or may not include a tip fee. Basically, if the price on the menu does not include a tip, you will need to pay a separate tip.
In general, Europe is not as noisy as chips compared to the United States.
Each country has different cultures
You can see that different countries have completely different manners and customs. Paying money is a particularly sensitive issue, and if you don’t know the country’s culture, it can make you uncomfortable. You want to eat while enjoying the unique features of that country.
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