I had a random chat with a colleague at work and we started talking about inviting friends over for dinner.
Thing is, what’s expected of the host from people our generation is very different from my parents’ generation: basically, they would invite people over and cook them a full dinner and serve drinks etc. Among my friends, we invite people over, but let people bring their own drinks. As the host, you’ll serve snacks etc, but let people order take-out and buy their own food.
It’s both a difference in how much money you have (dividing expenses makes sense that way), but also with lots of special diets and preferences, it’s just very hard to cook for other people I find. ^^;
I wonder about what expectations people in Japan have when you invite people over? Or you get invited over to someone. Do you bring drinks? Food? Or is the host expected to cook for you and take the expenses, including drinks?