Best gift?

Aug 12^th, 2023 Saturday Sunny

Since I started traveling by myself, I developed the habit of buying small gifts for friends. It is a way of showing my appreciation of their friendship, sharing a little bit of my travel experience with them, and an excuse to shop without guilt 😛 I find it fun to hunt for goodies that can only be purchased in a faraway place, and bring them home with me. However, I hate having unused gadgets or decorations at home. At the rate of my traveling, if I keep all the souvenirs to myself, I would soon be swimming in a random collection of objects. Giving them away is the best way to enjoy the pleasure of shopping without the stress of fretting over where to put them ?

Last October, my husband and I visited Sydney, Australia. As usual, I was on the lookout for interesting stores, and we came to a shopping mall-like market in the Chinatown area. Hundreds of vendors were selling all sorts of Australian-themed products. I was overwhelmed, and had to drag my husband into making decisions for me (otherwise we would be stuck there for hours).

Finally, we finished shopping for our colleagues, students working with us, and parents (all they want are T-shirts), and a very close family friend. The last one was the most challenging – we have known each other for more than ten years, and he has been such a great support for us all along that I think of him as a big brother. He is our go-to person in time of need, including when I stupidly locked myself out of my car while grocery shopping and could not get in touch with my husband…

After much consideration, we picked this hand-crafted, hand-painted boomerang. Boomerang is unique to Australia, and can be used as a decoration or a toy (if thrown correctly, it should return to you as the aboriginals used it as a hunting tool). I was happy with the choice.

Nevertheless, ever since our return, even though we got together with him almost weekly for hanging out and playing games, we never got a chance to give it to him. I eventually found out that my husband seemed embarrassed about it.

“Why?” I asked him.

“Well…it is so cheap. I feel that he deserves better.” he begrudgingly acknowledged.

The truth is, you cannot put a price tag on a friendship. If we ended up gifting him with the most expensive present in Sydney (e.g. an opal art piece), would that be enough to “repay” his kindness to us? I don’t think so.

“The best gift one human being can give another, is time.” I remember this saying from a TV drama decades ago. I wholeheartedly agree. Spending quality time together is more precious than anything with a monetary value.

Following the same logic, the best tangible gift, in my opinion, is made by my own hands, such as paintings, carved wood figurines, knitted hats. We only have so much free time outside of daily obligations, and that someone is willing to devote hours to make something special just for me would put a big smile on my face every time I see it.

On that account, we have made this friend several artworks, and treated him to home-made meals numerous times. A little gift from the “southern land” is just a token of “we were thinking of you”. True friendship should never be made or broken over a gift.

Plus, if we do not plan to ever give him the gift, why did we buy it in the first place? It is not like WE need a boomerang.

In the end, my husband agreed to deliver it, on the condition that I “dress it up”, so I added a bow tie, if that makes it more personal.

Hopefully our friend will appreciate it ?