[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

What would you do when you visit one of your friends’ house?

Drawing on my past experiences (and keeping in mind the concept of some distance travelled), I would do my best to be a good guest and enjoy the hospitality they would provide. No sense of entitlement, no unreasonable demands would be made of them to cater to other things only I would appreciate.

You seem to have more friends than Japanese people have. You would call a person “your friend” after you visit the person’s home personally, wouldn’t you?

Indeed I would, because seeing how they live and what they prefer to place in their surroundings can be and is a glimpse into their true selves when they are alone. Such openness must be received properly, and a closer friendship would result from it.

I believe Japanese people need longer time to make friends than you do. So most of the people I know are my acquaintances.

I see now, Yuri.

Thank you! Yes, that’s easy to read. I didn’t know if you use parentheses.
I’m still not sure if I can use them because I’ve never seen them in English books.

It's a good idea to limit how they are used. Too much of them and the flow of reading is interrupted with concepts better used in further sentences in a composition.

Don’t you say “whether or not”?
If you say it, when do you say it? Is it too pretentious?

Yes, I do use that clause when talking to others. You can talk faster than you can write generally, so having longer sentences is not usually a problem. When writing, the focus is on grammatical correctness and a smoother reading experience. In such situations using shorter words is preferable unless the concepts absolutely need longer words or phrases to be fully understood.

Thanks!

Hope that helps, Yuri!