The clapping thing . . .

what is up with the clapping? the Japanese clap their hands at everything, even when they aren't part of an audience. i was in Voice with some students and they asked me about my break so i tell them i went back to the US for a couple of weeks. Their response was, "sugooooiiiii!!!!" followed by a round of applause. Why are they clapping? i've not achieved anything, i've not passed any tests, i've not won any prizes. i just went home. but even stranger than the hands clapping thing that they do is the fact that it has rubbed off on me. i find my english has become slower, my gesticulations have become wilder and more overt, i over-enunciate words, and i clap now that i've acclimated myself to japan. somebody slap me.