Holiday Gift Giving Asian Edition

Hi guys! It's off the Great Wall again! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! And guess what? It's December! Woo! Alright, so before we jump into today's episode, we'd like to introduce you to our little friend here! Hello! You guys may have seen her in some older episodes, she like comes on and off. When was the last time you were here? The last one I was like some Chinese lady. Is that true to character? Oh absolutely. You're always an embarrassing joke. What do you mean? She was the haggler, the market haggler. Yeah, that's true! I got my bonds. Reasons to learn Chinese. Okay, well anyway, since it's, you know, the festive season, Thanksgiving just came and went, and Christmas is coming, so today we're going to talk about some like gift-giving experiences, maybe customs, like Western versus Asian, because they have very different gift-giving customs. This is going to be our first holiday season in New York. Mmm, yes. Just for like the two of us, me and Felicia. The last year I was actually in Indonesia, and the atmosphere there is kind of different. It's not as festive as it is around here, and for you guys also, she's also from Australia, and it's always summer. We have like barbecues. Yeah, I mean we go swimming, we go to the beach, we have barbecues. Come on guys, thumbs up if you have a hot Christmas. It's so weird to be cold here. I know! And then it snows, I'm like what's going on? No, but it's like a movie. So did you give any presents, or do you celebrate Christmas the way? Yes, you can definitely see it in the shopping malls, and like they have this gigantic Christmas tree. I can only speak about my family, like we don't really have that tradition of, you know, giving presents, and you're like buying presents for every single member of the family, and we don't really have that. Really? So on Christmas Day, what do you do? Uh, nothing. Feels like any other day. Come on, Felicia. It's like the same for all our Asian family. What? I have like a really big family, so many aunties and uncles, and so we all get together, we like all cook food, and there's a big Christmas tree, and every person brings a present for everyone else. Really? So there's like stacks of presents. It's a huge gift exchange. Yeah, there's like 50 presents under the tree. Even if they're really bad presents. Which we'll get into later. But, you know, it's the meaning behind it. That counts. Okay, so let's talk about gifts then. Yeah. Okay, so my parents give fruits, and then we get fruit. So it's an exchange. It's just like a fruit exchange. I'm not like Felicia. Sorry, Felicia. The Asian families come, and they bring like baskets of fruit. Oranges, your longans, your melons. Do they have any meaning? Yes. Like, if you get oranges and stuff, it's supposed to be like prosperity or something? I love orange. Oranges are so Asian. They are. Even if you go to Chinese restaurants, no dessert. I give you orange. A plate of orange. But you know what? Now you know. It's for your prosperity. And then melons is supposed to be like the unity of the family. Because it's like big. And it's like round. It's like, oh, yay, the family. What other things then? In Australia, you get like mangoes. Yeah, in summer. How do you eat your mangoes? I peel off the skin and then cut. Yeah. How do you eat your mangoes? Like, you cut it. Slice and cube? Yeah. Dude. Yeah. I know it looks pretty, but... It's not for prettiness purposes. That's the way you eat it. Oh my gosh. So you just sit there with a bunch of fruit all day long on Christmas Day? Like, Christmas isn't that significant, right? I mean, for our family. That's how it is. Okay, in China or in Taiwan, they don't... Like, Christmas... Well, they have a day off during Christmas and New Year, but it's just like any other day. I mean, I think that's why we celebrate it too. It's not that we're like full-on Christians or anything, but it's like, you might as well get into the spirit of it if it's there. And you know what? I hate people that have birthdays around Christmas as well. Because it's like, I have to get you a double present. Well... Yeah. What about re-gifting then? Okay, I don't... I think Asians re-gift so much. They do. They like, look around their house and they're like, what don't I do? What is okay to re-gift? And they're like, oh, that looks new. Did anybody eat these chocolates? Nobody? Okay, don't re-gift them. Oh my gosh, I've done that. Anyway, that's the cheaper Asian side. So on that note, what's the worst gift you've got? You know, going back to no gift-giving traditions. I guess no gift is worse than worst gift. Oh, that's true. If I have to think of something, I can only think of one. We had this white elephant thing with our friends. White elephant? Do you know what white elephant is? Kind of like Secret Santa. Oh, Secret Santa, but like... You can steal other people's gifts. Give me some fun. What the... Don't be so shocked, it's fun. It's a good game. What kind of system is this? It's like, I like that. Yeah, pretty much. All my icons. What's stopping everyone from stealing? Like, you get one turn. Oh. But anyway, okay. White elephant. I got Rubik's Cube. That's not that bad. That's not cool. I don't like it. I don't know what to do with it. Please take my gift. Do you even try? No. Fail. Honestly, your white elephant gift is not that bad. I got a bottle of syrup. Hey! Sugar-free syrup. And it's not like syrup water. Or is it like maple sap? No, it's like tree. I'm like, yes. You mean like cordial? Yeah, it was like cordial, except it was American. Wait, what's cordial? Cordial is like... Cordial? You know, you mix it with water. It's like the Kool-Aid. Australians. Be cordial, think cordial about it. Your turn. I think it's all about expectation. Managing expectations. Yeah. Because if you expect something really, really great from a person, or they lead you on to believe that it's the greatest thing ever, then you're like, and you're like, oh my god, it's chocolate or something. I'm a person that really just expects the lowest, so that anything that happens, I'll just still be happy. My boyfriend gave me this set of candles that I wanted him to get for me, but then I told you which one I liked, and he still managed to get the wrong set. I pointed it out. I pointed it out on your wall. One job. My grandma always gives me presents, but they're like sweaters or they're like jewelry, like jade. And the jade is like this big, and it just dangles off the neck. I know, I appreciate it, but that is materially the worst present. We always talk about that, like, oh, it's just so awkward. You don't even know how to react. Like, oh, I appreciate your thoughts. I really do. Like, you're so taken aback by it. How cute of you to give me this present, but I don't know how to react to this. Thank you. It means a lot. We dug this jade out of our family jewels. What about worst gifts that you've ever given? I think the worst, I think my gifts in general are usually pretty good, but when I buy clothes, and I don't know which size to buy, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm just gonna get offended. There have been times I got it wrong, but that's why you keep the receipt. Receipt? Yeah. That's how I learned to spell receipt. Receipt. Yeah, receipt. All right, so that's our experiences, which is gift giving, and worst gift that we've ever received. What do you guys think? Like, what are the worst? Whose team are you on? Are you like, no Christmas, Asian Christmas, or like, Christmas, Christmas? We're actually also interested in the worst gift that you've ever received. I'm sure there's plenty of hilarious stories. I love these stories, so please leave them in the comment below so we can all laugh together. We're not laughing at you, we're laughing together. So yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thanks Annie for joining us today. Thank you for having me. This will be one of our, like, one of our Christmas specials. We have a few surprises coming up. Also, don't forget to follow us on our social media accounts. It's otgwcrew on Instagram. Thanks for watching. We'll see you guys next time. Bye!