Translator Reviews ( Japanese → English )

Japanese

日中学生会議に参加した際に、京都で買った扇子を送った友達がいる。
さて彼と一年越しに日本に来た時に再開した際、こちらが受け取りづらいほど高価な中国の茶具をもらった。その時彼は直接は言わなかったのだが、後日共通の知り合いに聞いたところ、中国人は贈与について、律儀にお返しをしないといけないという考え方が強いらしく、彼は実は昨年僕から高価なお土産を受け取ったことを少し負担に思っていたようだ。この出来事をきっかけに僕は、常識だと思っている行動様式さえ、文化相対視する必要性を再確認した。

English

When I attended the Japanese-Chinese student meeting, I gave a fan bought from Kyoto to a friend.
Now, when I met him again one year later in Japan, I received a very expensive Chinese tea set which I was uncomfortable about due to the price. At that time, although I did not tell him directly, I later knew from a mutual acquaintance that the Chinese have this mentality of always giving a return gift when they receive one. I think he was probably feeling burdened about the expensive souvenir I gave to him. As a result of this incident, I realized again the importance of re-looking at actions which seem like common sense through different cultural perspectives.