In our modern stressful world we often forget about our customs and traditions.

However, I think that people should keep their traditions because they help to r
emember our forefathers and value the beautiful moments we have in our lives.Peo
ple may choose to keep their old traditions from their native country or to acce
pt new ones. Keeping the old customs will help one to overcome the cultural shoc
k and the change of the environment. From the other side, accepting the new trad
itions will help one to adapt and make new friends with residents. People in dif
ferent countries have different ways of behaving. Every country has its own cult
ure and traditions. There is no doubt that an advertising campaign conducted in
Russia will not have the same affect in the United States. Let us take for exa
mple advertisement of food and restaurants.
A huge amount of fast food stands suggest their services for breakfast, lunch, d
inner and supper in USA. The competition is very strong. Every week you get in y
our mail-box an envelope with different types of discounts in exchange for visit
ing them or ordering pizza. Watching TV you are also from time to time invited t
o visit a restaurant in order to taste some delicious food. It is not because i
t is easy to make money cooking but because the demand for such service is high.
First of all, people like to go out sometimes to have dinner with friends. Seco
nd of all, it is often impossible to drive home for lunch. It can be time consum
ing. As for Russia, it is a great tradition to have dinner at home with the fami
ly and go to the restaurant for big holidays. Additionally fast food is not popu
lar in Russia. So you will see advertisements of yogurts, coffee, dairy products
and juice instead of restaurants and fast food stands.Because we are in the mi
ddle of winter celebrations, we can speak and about many different customs of ce
lebrating the Christmas holiday, for example in Portugal People adhere to the tr
adition that Father Christmas brings presents to children on Christmas Eve. The
presents are left under the Christmas tree or in shoes by the fireplace. A speci
al Christmas meal of salted dry cod-fish with boiled potatoes is eaten at midnig
ht on Christmas Eve.In Romanian On the 6th December St Nicholas comes and puts s
mall gifts in children shoes that have been polished and placed near the windows
and if children have been naughty they get a little stick. Usually people in th
e country side grow their own pigs which are sacrificed for Christmas on the 20t
h of December, and the meat is cooked in different ways for the Christmas meal,
like home made smoked/unsmoked sausages. Each part of the pig is used in differe
nt ways to make different dishes. Mince is made and together with rice, onions a
nd spices is used for the stuffed cabbage or vine leaves, which are called 'sarm
ale'. So pig is traditional for Christmas meal. On Christmas Eve usually childre
n go around houses and sing carols and get fruit, sweets or money in exchange. O
n Christmas Day everyone has a big family meal and visit relatives. In the count
ry side people dress as bears and goats and go and sing special traditional song
s at each house in the village.The USA is so multi-cultural that you will find m
any different ways of celebrating Christmas.All year long children are told to b
ehave, or they will get coal in their stocking. On Christmas Eve, they hang high
ly stylized stockings on the mantle of the fireplace, then go to bed early so th
at they will find presents in the morning. In Germany Father Christmas- brings p
resents in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve (December 24th), after people hav
e been to a church meeting. The presents are then found under the Christmas tree
. One person in the family will ring a bell and call everyone to come to the roo
m. On Christmas Day, fish (carp) or goose will be cooked.Another different custo
ms are for example, Japanese have the custom wear kimono on their special occasi
ons; Spanish have their dinner at nearly 10p.m; or with Chinese, on Chinese New
Year s eve (based on Lunar calendar), they have reunion dinners with their familie
s. In my country, there are also many special customs.how we can see Every count
ry has itself culture, what says about all customs and lifestyle in it.Exactly c
ulture and customs describe every country identity.I would like to say, that the
knowledge of culture is very important in order to make relationship and go on
trips. There are important differences between east and west culture. For exampl
e, in east people write and read from the other side as it is in west.All over t
he world people have different ways of behaving, thinking and being. We are crea
ted in a unique way, we are not the same and that s why our lives vary. For this r
eason, some people find it difficult to adapt to other country s customs and tradi
tions while living abroad. In order to avoid misunderstandings and the feeling o
f being criticized by others it s necessary to study and analyze profoundly the wa
y the people dress, speak or even relax. In case you are a businessman, you shou
ld be very careful about your body language when speaking to a foreigner. An ina
ppropriate sign or some inadequate words could be the cause for your failure. Th
e most interesting is that we all are human beings, although so distinct from ea
ch other. This fact is due to varied backgrounds, life experiences, circumstance
s and customs.We can adopt some customs if they appear us to be very interesting
...and so we can develop our knowledge and lifestyle.