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 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.

美國

一位居住在威斯康星州的美國女士自告奮勇輔導(dǎo)剛搬進(jìn)同一社區(qū)的一位日本女士學(xué)習(xí)英語。她指出：“那位日本婦女每次上課、每次拜訪都帶禮物給我，一本書、剪紙、花或是糖果，真令我不知所措?！?/p>

這位美國女士不知不覺領(lǐng)教了日本幾百年來根深蒂固的文化傳統(tǒng)。

在美國，贈(zèng)送貴重的禮物是行不通的，比較合適的禮物是帶上你要感謝的朋友去赴宴或參加娛樂體育活動(dòng)。與之相反的是，在日本送禮是一種制度，一個(gè)優(yōu)良傳統(tǒng)。據(jù)《東京商業(yè)雜志》所言，“日本人送禮至關(guān)重要，而不像西方僅把它當(dāng)作一件不起眼的事?！痹谌毡?，恰當(dāng)?shù)亩Y物傳達(dá)送禮之人誠摯的難以言表的友好、感激及尊重之情。所以如果你準(zhǔn)備前往日本或有日本朋友前來拜訪，一定要做好準(zhǔn)備。

因此，你明白在當(dāng)今社會(huì)，送禮發(fā)揮著重要作用?，F(xiàn)在我們看看其它國家的情況。

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.

澳大利亞

澳大利亞以其友好，不拘禮節(jié)及坦誠而聞名，所以在參加商務(wù)會(huì)議時(shí)，送上一個(gè)商用記事本、紙鎮(zhèn)或一個(gè)咖啡杯再合適不過了。在商業(yè)展覽上，贈(zèng)送T恤衫、領(lǐng)帶、棒球帽或者一個(gè)大頭針最合適做紀(jì)念品了。若送比這些東西貴重的禮品反而會(huì)致人尷尬。

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 to a Greek home， flowers or a cake for the hostess are an appropriate gift.

希臘

在希臘，表達(dá)感激之情最常見的方式可能就是晚間的娛樂活動(dòng)。如果你要送禮，不要送一些顯得過于親昵的東西，比如領(lǐng)帶襯衣之類。如果希臘人邀請你去家里做客，給女主人送上鮮花或者蛋糕就很合適了。

Germany

A West Virginia executive， visiting Germany for the first time， was invited to the home of his largest customer. He decided to be gallant and bring his hostess a bouquet of flowers. He selected a dozen red roses.

Oops！Terrible mistake！ Social gift giving is popular and well-established in Germany but has certain dos and donts.

Flowers are often taken to a hostess of a dinner party at her home， but there are three taboos to remember： 1）red roses signify a romantic interest， 2）an even number of flowers signifies bad luck， as does the number thirteen， and 3）always unwrap the flowers before presenting them. This West Virginia was making what amounted to a pass at his customers wife.

When visiting a German home， gifts that reflect your home country are popular， and you might want to bring small gifts for the children of the family you are visiting. Gifts are customarily wrapped and many Germans spend considerable time designing elegant wrappings. Most shops offer gift-wrapping services， too.

德國

一位西弗吉尼亞主管第一次去德國，其最大的客戶邀請他上門拜訪。他想獻(xiàn)殷勤，于是給女主人帶了一束鮮花，選的是一打紅玫瑰。

噢！這個(gè)錯(cuò)可犯大了！交際中送禮在德國早已司空見慣，為世人所接受。不過什么可送什么不可送可是大有學(xué)問的。

如果晚宴設(shè)在女主人家中，常見的就是給她送花。不過有三個(gè)禁忌一定得記住：1）紅玫瑰象征著心儀對方；2）偶數(shù)鮮花寓意著倒霉，13朵也是如此；3）獻(xiàn)花之前不要包扎。這個(gè)西弗吉尼亞人送紅玫瑰讓人以為他對客戶的妻子有意思呢！

登門拜訪德國人時(shí)，帶上能反映你祖國特色的禮物將大受歡迎！也可以給主人家的孩子帶上點(diǎn)小禮物。

禮物一般得包扎，很多德國人會(huì)花上一定的時(shí)間設(shè)計(jì)個(gè)優(yōu)雅的包裝。大多數(shù)商店也會(huì)提供包裝服務(wù)。

Italy

When you are invited to a persons home for dinner， it might be nice to bring flowers or a box of chocolates for your hostess， although it is just as considerate to have the flowers sent the next day.

Yellow roses can signify “jealousy.” And in Italy never send chrysanthemums， since they suggest death.

意大利

當(dāng)你受邀到別人家里共進(jìn)晚餐時(shí)，給女主人帶上幾束花或者一盒巧克力就可以了，不過你要是第二天再送花的話，也可算是考慮周到了。

黃玫瑰寓意著“嫉妒”。在意大利人們從來不送菊花，因?yàn)檫@暗示死亡。