Japanese culture is very orientated on gifts. People give each other gifts all the time. Employees give their bosses gifts, friends give their friends gifts and in-laws give their in-laws gifts (usually..) It is expected when visiting.
Different places in Japan are filled with pre-made souvenirs specific to that area. When traveling people bring these home to share with everybody. Japanese are especially crazy about food items.
Yesterday I finally decided to give my temporary host family a call.
They only speak Japanese (great for learning the language.)
It went well.
First my host father answered the phone with “moshimoshi” and I said “こんにちは！僕のの前はヘンリーです。僕はホスト即” which means “Hello! My name is Henry. I’m your host son.”
After a few moments my host father gave the phone to my host mother and we talked for almost 2 hours.
She was using a Japanese-English dictionary and I kept on thinking of what to say to cover up the long pauses. My host father is a computer engineer and host mother is an accountant. They live alone in a small apartment in Tokyo as their kids are all grown up.
In the end I think it went really well and they seem very nice.
