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WHO PAYS?

                                If someone is invited for a meal, especially for business, the
                            person  who  made  the  invitation  will  pay  the  check.  Among
                            friends, it is quite common in the United States for each person in
                            a group to pay only for his or her part of the total. This practice is
                            known as going Dutch or splitting the check. The check may be
                            divided equally, or every person's own share of the total may be
                            worked  out.  The  American  sense  of  fairness  makes  this  quite
                            acceptable - if you only had a salad, why pay for someone else's
                            steak? - but in business, it is more polite to pay an equal share no
                            matter what you ate.

                                           EATING AT SOMEONE’S HOME

                                If you are invited to someone's home for dinner, the main thing
                            to remember is to pretend to like the food even if you don't. It is
                            perfectly acceptable to tell someone beforehand, "I'd love to come,
                            but I'm a vegetarian; will that be a problem?" or to tell your host if
                            you have any food allergies, but if the only reason you can't eat the
                            food is that you don't like it, try to be polite and eat a couple of
                            bites anyway, and ask for more of something you do like.
                                People usually bring flowers or wine to the host's house when
                            they come for dinner;  flowers are safer because people may not
                            drink alcohol or may not share your taste in wine. Your host will
                            probably open the bottle of wine you brought unless you say that it
                            is  "for  you,  for  whenever  you  want."  (The  charming  and useful
                            expression "for the house" is not understood in the United States.)
                                If you like a particular dish, the best compliment you can give
                            the cook is to ask for the recipe.
                                People usually eat "family style," putting plates and dishes of
                            food on  the  table  for  everyone  to  serve  themselves  from.  Table
                            manners may be a little more relaxed than in a restaurant, but you
                            should be as polite as you can be even if some other guests are not.
                                When you leave, thank your host for the lovely time you had,
                            and try to invite that person to the next dinner party at your own
                            home.  Some  people  write  thank-you  notes,  although  this  is  not
                            expected.
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