Eating the European Way

One of the first days I was here eating with the family Reimund told me that the Germans (well Europeans) eat with the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right. For most things they are using the knife all the time, but in the event that they are not using the knife the right hand is kept on the table. American style is to cut a few bites first then just use the fork to eat while keeping the other hand in their lap under the table. Reimund said I could eat however I felt comfortable, but they were teaching Ines and Tim the European way. I tried to do it that way too, but it’s a rather ingrained habit and is a bit hard to change. Then maybe two days later Sabine told me the exact same thing, not knowing that Reimund had already told me about the custom, haha…. So I figured if it was important enough for them to both bring it up I should try a little harder to alter my eating style. I continued to pay attention to how they were eating, and by following their lead, I was able to comfortably eat the European way. After all this, Reimund actually said something about it the other day!!! He looked over and was like, “Hey, you are eating the European way!” I was quite pleased that he noticed my efforts and the fact that he commented on it is even funnier :)