We were in a restaurant in Porto together with my Portuguese colleague Miguel Vieira. Everybody was enjoying their meal and we were talking. I didn't notice that the other people at the table had finished their first course, and kept slowly enjoying mine. They waited and waited. Then, when I had finally finished, everybody breathed a sigh of relief and the second course was served. At that time I didn't understand what I had done wrong, but four months later, when Miguel came to Bulgaria, we took him to a restaurant. When he finished his salad a waiter came and took the empty plate away. Miguel said, "That would not happen in Portugal. There all the people at the table must wait for the last one to finish eating and only then can they get their second course." At that moment I understood why everybody present at that first dinner was so tense. (Reported by a Bulgarian man)