Culture plays a pivotal role in our life and local customs and traditions shape every culture. There is a notion that when someone starts to live in a foreign country, they must follow local customs and traditions. I argue that one does not necessarily have to obey the cultural rules and follow traditions of host nation even though it is essential to respect them.
I believe that people do not have to obey the rules or follow certain customs of local inhabitants. This is because if this is expected of every foreign person who have started to live in the country, it will be rather challenging for the newcomers to adapt their new life. This difficult adaptation, in turn, may create an inflated concern in other people planning to move to another country, making many individuals unwilling to migrate.
Moreover, if everybody must practice new customs and traditions of the host country, they could forget about their own culture. Since people learn rules, customs and celebrations of one particular culture while growing up, this will be their true national identity, which holds values and traditions of certain society. While living abroad, they must follow their original culture, celebrating its special days and preserving the traditional values to protect their own identity.
That said, it is important to show respect for the people and their traditions when living abroad. When they are celebrating their national holidays and rituals or following certain cultural customs, a person should show respect by participating or at least congratulating them. This is considered to be a sign of respect, which is a crucial part of holding intercultural ties together. That is why it is thought that individuals must follow costoms and traditions of the local area.
In conclusion, I am of the opinion that one needn’t follow the cultural aspects of a country when started living abroad as this might create unnecessary inconvenience and disrupt national identiy of a person. However, they must always show respect the culture of local people taking part in celebrations or at least giving warm wishes.