American custom: no gifts on holidays

America is a relatively young and developed country, and many of its customs may be different from ours. The following is the American custom I have compiled: no gifts on holidays, welcome to read!

Some new immigrants from China came to the United States and unconsciously brought some gift-giving habits from the mainland to the United States. However, if these behaviors are not properly measured, they will often cause misunderstanding and unhappiness of others, and will also make new immigrants feel embarrassed. After sending their children to school, some parents of new immigrants will give their teachers a heavy gift. Some parents will send giffords and moon cakes of tens of yuan to supervisors and teachers on their children's first day at school. Some parents order fruit baskets and flowers, while others even give iPad as gifts. Some new immigrants failed to pass the driver's license test several times, and finally passed the test, thanking the examiner for giving gifts, and some Chinese gave gifts to each other in order to achieve their goals smoothly. All these have aroused criticism from Americans.

Not that Americans don't give gifts. Speaking of various festivals, such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Teacher's Day, Secretary's Day and so on. Americans will exchange gifts between relatives and friends, such as birthdays, weddings, graduations, etc. But generally speaking, Americans give gifts lightly and value feelings. Buy a small gift, wrap it carefully and express your best wishes.

American parents also give gifts to teachers on holidays, but most of them are small gifts, greeting cards made by children, and snacks baked at home. However, Americans will not have the idea of giving gifts in the hope that teachers will take special care of their children, because if teachers do so, it will not only be immoral, but also unfair to other children. Americans don't even give heavy gifts to government employees in order to get things done smoothly. It is natural for government employees to do things for taxpayers, and there is no need to express gratitude. Acting in accordance with laws and regulations is a basic principle of American society.

American civil servants or employees have strict rules on gifts, generally no more than $20 at a time, no cash, gift certificates, etc. If you give expensive gifts to civil servants or employees, you will not only accept them, but also be suspected of accepting bribes. Usually, the other party will refuse. A China parent gave the school admissions teacher an iPad, which was not too expensive, but the other party politely declined. After the parents repeatedly expressed their sincerity, the teacher said that they could give it to the school library on their behalf. But then the school withdrew, on the grounds that admission would affect children's admission. The school hopes that children will be admitted on the basis of their excellent conditions rather than their parents' talents. There is also a new immigrant who was refused to give gifts to the examiner after passing the road test. The other party also taught him not to do such a thing in the United States, so as not to be considered as a bribe and cause trouble.

China has a tradition of respecting teachers and valuing Taoism since ancient times, and China's society also belongs to human society. It should be said that most people's desire to give gifts is good, just to express their gratitude. Although giving expensive gifts in this way is out of step with the local customs in the United States, it is also a problem of cultural differences, which can be changed through understanding and learning. On the other hand, some people, influenced by the bad gift-giving atmosphere in Chinese mainland, hope to achieve certain goals by giving gifts. For example, they hope that school teachers can take special care of their children through the back door, such as making special arrangements for their children before driving test, or providing convenience in starting a company. This category belongs to bad habits and should be resolutely stopped and put an end to it.

New immigrants come to America, should they? Ask the customs at entry? Know the customs of the host country, do as the Romans do, and don't bring past human habits or bad habits to the United States. Improper gift-giving like this not only increases one's financial burden, but also easily causes criticism or misunderstanding from local people, thus affecting the overall image of Chinese.