Why?

My father is coming to Japan in a couple of weeks time. I'm looking forward to seeing him and showing him around, watching rugby and going to a couple of places where I have never been to before. It should be a fun and enjoyable time.

We have also organized to meet a few people from my hometown in New Zealand. So far so good, right? It is and I am looking forward to catching up with these people too.

Despite all of this, there is a weird thing that I can't figure it out why and I'm going to try to come up with some explanations.

First of all I better explain. My father's best mate's son also lives here in Tokyo. The son was also one of my brother's groomsman at his wedding. Anyway, my father has given me his contact details so that we can meet up while my father is in town. OK, fair enough. However, now, a couple of weeks before my father arrives my father's friend and his wife are in Tokyo too. I asked my parents if they had asked for my details. What do you think the answer was. No!

Secondly, my father was saying that we should meet another guy who lives in Tokyo. His parents live on the same street as my parents in New Zealand. So,they go to see their son in Tokyo a few times a year. Have they ever asked my parents for my details? What do you think the answer is? No!

So, my question is why does my father want to meet these people while their parents don't seem to want to meet me? Is this an extrovert, introvert thing? Is my father going to get bored of spending all this time with me and wants to see other people? (That sounds like a boy/girl relationship)

I don't know why.

I think some people feel obliged to visit people when they are in their neck of the woods. They don't want the other people to find out that they were there and didn't contact them. You will get the, "Oh, you should have ..." line. I'm always sceptical of that line. I remember being asked what I did for New Years Eve one year. I replied nothing. I got the "Oh, you should have ... " line. I knew that this was not a genuine invitation because the time had passed and it is very easy for the person to invite you somewhere when it has finished. (Just so you know, the person who said that is an extrovert.)

Another reason my father likes to do this kind of thing is that he is genuinely interested in finding out about these people and he would like to catch up with them. I must admit that I can take it or leave it but he seems to enjoy it so good on him.

In saying that though when I go to another city I tend to take after my father in that I will contact people that I know that live in that city. Why? Because you may get a chance to catch up with them and they will take you to places that you might not go to in the normal course of the day.

Why is my father keen to see these other guys while their respective parents don't seem to be interested in seeing me? I think the answer to that is simple. That's my father and that's how he operates. It's as simple as that. That's how he thinks. He thinks who do I know in that area? I know that I think like that too. People think differently. They have different priorities and you can't classify them all in the same group. Some people want to hang out, others don't. My father wants to hang out.