Pasta, noodles, and slurping

Mr. M made this delicious looking pasta. It looks like it is a cream sauce with spinach and ham. It is mouth-watering!!!

Just before in class some students and I talked about slurping. In Japan when you eat noodles, for example ramen or soba or udon, it is OK=acceptable=common to slurp when you eat. I heard that slurping is actually a sign to show the chef/cook that the eater thinks the noodles are delicious. In America, slurping is very rude. It is very impolite to slurp anything in America. Soup, coffee, tea, pasta, noodles: It is inappropriate to slurp all of these foods! Some Japanese people also slurp when they eat pasta! This is a big NO-NO in America! Many parents tell children in America "Don`t slurp your food! It`s rude!!!"

It`s interesting how in different countries there are different customs and rules about food and manner. I want to talk more about this in the future. Are there any customs or rules in Japan or foreign countries which you think are strange?