Gift giving in Japan is big. If you go on a trip, you usually bring back something small for your family, friends, co-workers, anyone you've ever met (okay, it's not quite that extreme). The most common thing to give is little packages of snacks. Each region of Japan has some snack that is unique to that area and is sold in nicely wrapped packages. When you think of it, they're the perfect little gift...usually not terribly expensive, easy to give to a lot of people, and since it's something you can eat it's not just going to sit around your house and take up space. Since a lot of the teachers in the Japanese department went back to Japan over winter break, they brought back omiyage (or gifts) for everyone. At first I used to see it as an obligation, but now I think it's a nice gesture:)
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