When you head out of your own country, one thing to remember is that your own rules no longer apply quite so much. You now need to accept and, in most cases, adhere to the national culture of wherever you happen to be going to visit. With that in mind, you might want to focus on some of the examples of food etiquette that exist around the world.
If you intend to go to any of the following three nations, you should definitely look to adhere to the following ‘food rules’ to avoid insulting anyone.
China
When you go to China, you are expected to leave something on your plate when you get to the end of your meal. If you empty your plate then it tells the server that you are still hungry and that your host was not able to do their job in filling you up.
Naturally you can find that this insults a host, so you want to always make sure that you leave a bit of extra food on the plate when you are done. It’s quite an interesting quirk, but one absolutely worth remembering moving forward.
India
If you choose to go to India, you might want to remember that their system and culture is extremely unique. This is doubly so in the way in way in which you get your food. When you get given food or drink in India, you do not say thank you when eating in an informal setting.
You say this in a formal setting, such as to a waitress in a restaurant, but you do not say thank you to a friend when they serve you food or drink. Why? Because it implies you see your relationship as transactional.
Hungary
If you choose to visit the European nation of Hungary, make sure you never raise a toast or clink your glass together with someone else. Why? It comes back to a horrible political moment. In 1848, the Austrian government supressed Hungarian uprisings and after executing the rebels the ruling class toasted publicly and clinked their glasses together.
Do that in front of an older Hungarian or someone who is politically charged, and you will openly insult them. So, never ask a Hungarian to clink glasses together; you are essentially insulting them and reminding them of a dark period in political history.