B3 U4 Reading

Casey turned pale when she opened the gift box. We were at Casey’s place, celebrating her first birthday in America. Casey was an international student from Taiwan. In spite of our different cultural backgrounds, we immediately became friends. I knew that she was fond of antiques, so I was pretty confident that she would love the gift I had found at the antique shop—a beautiful wooden clock. I asked Casey what was wrong, and she explained, “In Chinese culture, the phrase ‘giving a clock’ sounds like ‘attending a funeral,’ so it carries the meaning of ‘death.’ People in Taiwan normally would avoid  giving a clock as a gift.”

It was then that I realized gift-giving customs are very different around the world. My sister, who works in an overseas company, once made a similar mistake when she presented her Indian client with a cow leather wallet. In India, it is the gift of leather that is considered offensive because cows are sacred to Hindus. My sister didn’t mean to cause any offense, but the Indian client wasn’t too pleased when he received this gift.

A few days later, I spoke to my friend Joseph about what had happened on Casey’s birthday. He said, “My girlfriend is French. When I visited her family for the first time, I brought a bouquet of chrysanthemums with me. Her father got mad and asked me to leave.”

“What?” I asked in surprise. “Chrysanthemums sound nice. What’s wrong with that?”

Joseph explained, “My girlfriend later told me that to the people in France, the chrysanthemum is a symbol of death, and it should only be used for funerals or on graves.” He continued, “It was really rude of me to give chrysanthemums to her family as a gift.”

I decided to find out more about gift-giving customs around the world. It turned out that not only does the choice of a gift matter, but the way the gift is presented is also very important. For example, a gift that is given to a Japanese person should be presented with both hands, since this is regarded as a symbol of respect.

In addition, in many Western countries, people prefer to open their gifts in front of the givers. In this way, they can honor the people who have given them these gifts. However, in Asian cultures, it is impolite to open a gift right away. No wonder Casey looked quite embarrassed when I urged her to open the gift.

Now, I always keep in mind that I should spend some time studying the local customs before giving a gift to someone from another country. Next week, I’ll visit another Taiwanese friend, and I’m going to buy a gift for him. This time, I know a clock will not be my choice.