To begin with, following the customs of the new country will help people avoid awkward situations. This is because the new environment may not be suitable for one to insist the customs of their home country. For instance, when I was staying in Canada, I experienced such an embarrassing dinner with my home-stay family. Since it was not appropriate to burp in front of the dinner table in my country, I was so surprised to hear my host sister burp. Automatically, I frowned and asked her not to do that again. However, the whole family seemed so puzzled and my host mother finally told me that it was okay to burp in Canada. I was so embarrassed and the dinner atmosphere was quite awkward. In this sense, sticking to one’s own custom might arouse embarrassing circumstances.
Secondly, conforming to the new customs is the best way to adjust to the new environment. When people are moving to new countries, they go through some maladjustment with food, people and work atmosphere. However, if one tries to conform to the unfamiliar customs, they are likely to get adjusted to the new place somewhat easily. According to the research conducted by Residence Agency for Newcomers, the quickest and easiest way to adapt oneself to new circumstances is to imitate the native people’s action. In other words, they follow the customs of the new area such as trying the traditional dish, using vocabularies and even slang among the native people, and do some sports with the native fellows. One researcher reports that, when the newcomer seems to make a great effort to adjust to the new environment by following the customs, many native people will be more likely to feel close. This shows that in order to get used to the new surroundings, it is necessary to embrace the new customs. |