[Culturechat] Hostess Gifts -- and cultural cross wires!

[Kraut907@aol.com]

Marilee, that is a hilarious story, but at the time, I imagine, must have 
been embarrassing!
We have the same custom in Germany, and it's mostly flowers one brings.It 
used to be quite rigid (I don't know if  it still is the same), the number of 
flowers had to be uneven, and you had to take the paper off  before handing 
the bouquet to the hostess.She, maybe still mashing the potatoes and greeting 
the guests, has to procure a vase and arrange the flowers in it.
Yes, she is mashing the potatoes, because in Germany you don't have a 
cocktail hour as we have here. Dinner is served very soon, and after-dinner 
drinks, cognac or liqueur, are popular, because "they help the digestion".    
   Sigrid Washington.