Restaurant etiquette

Last night we went out to dinner with a few friends. Part way through the dinner we needed some more soup so one member of our party raised his arm and yelled across the room, "Server! More soup!" (Though it sounded more like "FooWooYuan! Jee-ah tong!")
Here's the funny part - this is utterly proper etiquette when eating in a Chinese restaurant in China. In fact, it is pretty much the only way to get a server's attention.

It is equally amusing how odd American's feel while using this particular restaurant technique. When someone's 'service call' is commented on, invariably the individual in question will first defensively remind the other diners that "this is how the Chinese do it" and then bashfully explain that it took them about 6 months to become comfortable doing it themselves.

We are thinking that even taking into account the efficiency of the yelling-orders-across-the-room method, giving it a try in the US will not endear us to our hometown wait staff.