Nowadays, many individuals travel between continents and are exposed to different civilisations and cultures. While some countries may have the same traditions as us, others are extremely distinct. Should we adapt and embrace foreign customs or should we not? My opinion is that people need to find a balance between accepting new cultures and keeping their individuality.
First of all, learning local habits is a way of showing appreciation to one’s host in a foreign country. In other words, locals would appreciate tourists and tourism more if visitors showed their knowledge of their ways. Eastern-Asian societies, for ,instance Japan and South Korea, are really different from British culture, hence visitors should adapt and show appreciation for their ceremonies and practices. A typical example of this situation would be learning how Japanese individuals express their respect and show courtesy to unknown people. By doing simple cultural gestures like bowing and smiling may make natives welcome tourism more.
Secondly, some communities and regions have strict regulations, which a visitor must respect, in order to be able to visit their area. A great example of this is visiting Muslim lands, such as Dubai or Turkey, where female tourists are sometimes required to cover the inferior part of their bodies and hair in order to respect their beliefs. Tourists should be informed and aware of countries’ restrictions and laws, otherwise, they create risky situations that can upset local authorities.
On the other hand, we all have our own lifestyles and morals, so by embracing other cultures, there is the risk of losing our individuality. That is to say, many individuals that move overseas forget their native home country and roots, in order to be accepted into their adoptive state. For example, many Orthodox Christians move to Catholic countries and start celebrating Easter on the same day as their Catholic counterparts, even if Orthodox Easter is often on a different day.
To conclude, my opinion is that by accepting and respecting other ways of life, we learn to live in a certain area of the globe, however, we should not forget our heritage and our social values. Instead, we should promote our country’s strong points and be proud of our cultural inheritance.