I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it! And share the issues you had with the book. (Which doesn't stop me wishing some of my cousins were mature and fluent enough in English to appreciate the book because I think they'd really like it. I would have loved it infinitely more when I was younger, anyhow, and they desperately need something to offset Sparkly Sparkleson and Giving-Klutzes-A-Bad-Name romance...)

And, you know what, I'd not noticed the little eating detail at all! At least I didn't register it as being something different from what's usually done. It's only you and someone else pointing it out that I noticed that, yes, this really isn't all that common. (But then I can think of several food-loving characters/protagonists I grew up with without taxing my brain too much, so I suppose I'm more used to it than I might've been.)

*all over the place*