sturmnbatarangs | [IC] VOICEMAIL

I'm going to guess you're talking about Christmas instead of any number of holidays you could be referring to.

Winter Solstice doesn't seem to be making much of a fuss, nor any of the other ones I've come across on the Guide.

Do you know what the gifting etiquette is for Christmas?

It's likely to do with the high representation of Earths on the ship.

The gift depends on the strength of the relationship. Coworkers or general acquaintances can receive a fairly generic, inexpensive gift- food or something practical, job related. For friends, you usually give one 'thoughtful' gift- something they would enjoy, usually ranging between [futuristic equivalent of $15-25 dollars here] at your age. Parents may give their children multiple presents each year; whether or not the children reciprocate varies on the family. Family gifting traditions are usually quite varied and often depend on the size of the family itself. Cash is generally looked down upon unless it's an older relative giving it to a teenager or young adult.

There's no obligation to give gifts, but many people feel uncomfortable with the idea that they could receive a gift and not have one in exchange. Keeping a stock of generic gifts for such an event is a possibility.

[guess who is not one of those people who will feel uncomfortable not reciprocating?]

[hello my name is batman and I like to tl;dr]

[ bruce this is exactly why she's glad she asked you. you're so informative in your tl;dr -- and she sadly usually sees it as JUST LONG ENOUGH, READ FINE THANKS ]

Thank you, Mr. Wayne. I've been hearing different things, and when Naruto's mother asked, I didn't have an answer for her. I'll make sure she hears about this.

[ also thanks dude now I know what to get to be socially acceptable by people who acknowledge this holiday yay? ]

[isn't it great that this is his exact role in canon sob INFODUMP]

The differences could depend on the cultures of the people ask, but hopefully this clears some things up.

[aww yeah socially acceptable HIGH FIVE]

It does, enough for what I was wanting to know about. Thank you again!

[ wait wait she has... another question. ]

Do you happen to know if Japan had any particular kinds of New Years celebrations?

Edited 2010-12-21 17:51 (UTC)

New Year's is a more important holiday in Japan than Christmas is. There's an assortment of traditional food and games associated with the festivals. At midnight the temple bells are rung 108 times as per Buddhist tradition. There's a strong emphasis on the "first" of many things to occur in the new year- first temple visit, first sunrise, etc. It's customary to give children money as a gift for New Year's, in contrast to the Western Christmas traditions.

Any particular questions?

How religious would you say the celebrations are at "heart?" Then again it's a guess if anything about those would be important come the 31st. Still odd to see the "New Year" coming earlier than I expected... then again the whole calendar feels a little strange.

People have celebrated the holidays non-religiously for generations. New Years especially I wouldn't worry about- everyone is capable of celebrating the new year. I'm willing to bet we'll see more of the celebratory aspects of Christmas than the religious ones aboard the ship.

Coming earlier as in it hasn't been a full year since your last one or it's celebrated at a different time relative to when it was celebrated in your world?

Different time relative to when celebrated on my world; too long since the last one back home.

The thrills of time paradoxes, I suppose.

Thrills of different worlds and calendars, time paradoxes aside.

Thank you, Mr. Wayne. You've been very helpful.

Don't mention it.

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