To most Westerners, forks and knives are cogs of an enjoyable meal. Fork is a small implement with a handle and two or more points or prongs, used for lifting food to the mouth or holding things (esp. meat) firmly while they are cut. For people who never see it before, it takes some imagination to depict the form. Knife is another indispensable tool that, coupled with fork, renders a Western meal "edible." Again, people who are strange to the above-mentioned dining utensils must have hard, or embarrassing, time when fumbling with, say, a steak; for example, shaking the whole table to draw some sneer and concern look. Relatively speaking, the Oriental uses a cleverer gadget: chopsticks. Any pair of thin sticks makes up chopsticks; and it takes no more than four fingers to master chopsticks, which alone conquer almost all kinds of Chinese food. (Of course, bare hands are even more convenient, leave aside decency and hygiene.) So, is it that everyone is able to manipulate chopsticks with natural, nonchalant ease? "Certainly not," answered a blonde, face-cragged foreigner sitting vis-a-vis me today in the dorm cafeteria. He was literally all thumbs, wrestling with docile chopsticks. A fish ball, as if given life, kept freeing itself from his chopsticks by constant leaps and bounds. Heaving a long sigh, his look turned serious-- a determined expression that seems to swear, "He'll make it in the long run!" Gingerly, he stared the fish ball with scientist-like concentration, firmly clipped it between the chopsticks, and moved... slowly and slowly... Hush! Freeze! Not even swallowing saliva hard! toward his twitching lips and mouth ajar. Finally, he grinned in triumph; he crunched it with wild, revenging abandon. Later, he tried applying the same way to the rice in his tilting bowl, but, quite preditably, to no avail. Grains dropped time and again when over-pressed by his chopsticks; thus, he began another struggle.... Not knowing why he did not ape people around, I kept my observation with amusement. As an experienced chopsticks user, I would like to share, if anything, the knack below. First, rest the chopsticks upon the curve between your thumb and index finger. At this moment, like holding the violin bow, ease all your fingers as long as not to drop it, thereby you'll have a better command. Then, parallel the chopsticks' heads by lightly nailing them on the surface of the table. Note that different food, not unlike different strings of violin, requires different angles to approach; to this end, make good use of your wrist and elbow. Last but not least, never try to drink soup with your chopsticks. --

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