Reflections about hobbies and passions

I often get asked what my hobby is. This was a really difficult thing to answer, especially back in my university years. I'd often get asked by the Japanese transfer students and I didn't really know how to answer it. Does studying count as a hobby? Researching? Conversing? What does hobby actually mean? In my mind, it meant something you do for fun or in your free time. Seeing as I had no free time in university all I was left with was studying. The research part was more fun anyway, so my hobby would have had to be researching. Another thought I had about hobby was perhaps it was something you take an interest in and want to improve. What were my interests back then? Again, life just revolved around learning. Now if you ask me, I can give typical answers like hiking and sewing. Things I invest my time and money in. This is easy for any Japanese person to wrap their minds around. They are brought up to have something that they love, are passionate about and invest all their money time and resources into. I admire it really. I have always been taught to dabble into everything. try everything out without investing too much until you find yourself passionate about it. This is why I can do basic things in almost any craft, but I have mastered nothing. My Japanese colleagues on the other hand have every gadget in their field of play and know everything you can know about it. For some this passion originates from their junior high school after school club activities. However because Japanese tend to specialize in whatever it is they happen to like, it is so easy to find like-minded people, products to go along with those hobbies, and support when it comes to getting involved in something as a group. 

How were you brought up? Did you dabble in everything and become a jack of all trades or were you completely focused on one thing?