After 20 years of wedlock, my Japanese wife and I usually see things eyeball-to-eyeball, especially when staring at each other. Yet, there is one case where we match up like sushi and whipped cream.
Nope, this conflict has nothing to do with daily life, diet, raising the kids or even hopping about in each other's underwear -- which we both agree we would never do. The difference comes not in how we have adjusted to life in her country; it's in how we look at life in mine. Specifically, how we approach our periodic visits to my American hometown.
For my wife these trips are moments of keen anxiety. The problem is not one of people, as she is fond of my family and they are equally fond of her. Instead, what gives my wife the jeebies is deciding what to buy for everybody! What gifts to bring them from the land of the rising yen!