Gift culture外国礼物文化.doc

Gift culture (Do’s and Taboos of Gift Giving) Do you always know which gifts you should choose to sent others, especially the foreigner? Have you ever made terrible mistakes on sending presents? Today I want to tell you something about gift culture in different countries to help you with that. America An American woman living in Wisconsin volunteered to tutor English to a Japanese woman who had moved into the same community. “Before each lesson, and on each and every visit,” the American reported, “the Japanese lady brought me a gift — a book, some paper sculpture, flowers, or candy. It was embarrassing.” Unknowingly, this American was experiencing a vestige of protocol rooted centuries deep in the Japanese culture. In America, lavish, extravagant gifts are definitely out. An appropriate alternate to a gift is to take the deserving person to dinner, or to an entertainment or sporting event. On the contrary, gift giving is an institution and a revered custom in Japan. According to Business Tokyo magazine, among the Japanese “gift giving is a necessity, not merely a nicety as in the West.” In Japan the proper gift is thought to express the givers true friendship, gratitude, and respect far better than words can. So if you plan to visit Japan or to have Japanese visit you here, be prepared. So you know gift giving plays a very important role in nowadays society. Now lets see whats happened in other countries. Australia Australia is known for its friendly informality and lack of pretentiousness. So modest gifts, such as a business diary, a paperweight, or a coffee mug might be presented as a memento of a visit of business meeting. At a trade show, T-shirts, ties, baseball caps, or a pin may be appropriate mementos. Anything more than these types of gifts could cause embarrassment. Greece The most common form of showing appreciation in Greece is probably an evenings entertainment. If you do present a gift, avoid personal items, such as ties and shirts. If you are invited