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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.