どんな人を家に招待する？・What kind of people do you invite to your house?

子供の頃から、親は家にいろいろな客さんを招待している。家は教会みたいだったので、普通なアメリカ人の家と違ったね。毎週、にぎやかだった。１５歳まで、僕と同じぐらい年齢の子供もたくさん来たので、楽しかったね。鬼ごっこをしたり、自転車に乗ったりした。だんだん成長して、大人と一緒に会話することもしたけど、普段に遊んだ。

１５歳から、家族は別な州に引っ越したけど、いつものように人を招待した。ただ、僕と同じぐらい年齢の人はいなかったので、大人と時間を過ごした。あるおじさんは面白かったので、彼とよく話したんだ。父は聖書が詳しｋて、僕にいろいろなことを教えて、僕は聖書のクラスも取ったので、僕も詳しくなった。だから、父は講義のようにそのおじさんに質問したら、おじさんは隣に座っていた僕に向かって、僕はヒスヒスとして答えをおじさんに教えて、おじさんは父に答えを言ったことがよくあった。

そういう経験のおかげで、年上の人と話したり、時間を過ごしたりするのは全然変じゃないと思う。さらに、あまり知らない人でも家に招待することも変じゃない。家は人を招待して、もっと知るところのように思う。つまり、僕はおもてなしを人と仲良くなるために道具として使うんだ。

日本人と違うかな？仲良くなった後に友逹を家に招待する方は普通な気がするけど、もっと研究が必要。みんなはどう思う？

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When I was a kid, my parents invited all kinds of people to our home. Our home was kind of like a church, so we were a little different from your typical American. Every week, our house was quite lively. Until I was 15 years old, a bunch of kids my age came over, so I had a lot of fun. We'd play tag or ride bikes, stuff like that. As I got older, I would talk with the adults as well, but usually I just played.

When I turned 15, even though we moved to a different state, my parents still invited people over as usual. However, nobody my age came to our house, so I spent time with the adults instead. There was one older guy that I thought was funny, so I talked with him a lot. Because my dad knew a lot about the Bible and taught me a lot, and because I also took classes, I knew a lot too. There were often times when my dad would ask that older guy questions like we were in a lecture or something. When that happened, the guy would turn to me, I would whisper the answer to him, and then he'd give the answer to my dad.

Because I had experiences like that, I don't think it's strange to talk and spend time with people that are much older than me. Not only that, but I also don't think it's weird to invite people that I don't know very well over to my home. I feel like my home is a place to invite people and get to know them. In other words, I use hospitality to get to know people better.

I wonder if Japanese people are different? I get the feeling it's more normal for Japanese to invite someone over to their house after they become friends with them, but I need to do my research. What does everybody else think?