<< It is thought that most of the people who move overseas maintain their own customs, because this enables them to maintain the same lifestyle as the home countries at least within households and ethnic communities in the host countries, which makes their lives less stressful. Moreover maintenance of own customs is important in terms of protection of their identifications with their home countries. However, I would personally prefer to adopt the customs of the new country, as this enables me to live in the host country more easily and to be more widely acceptable to the people in the host society. It can be observed that many people prefer to maintain their own customs and lifestyles even after they move to other countries, as this makes their lives in the new places less stressful in the first place. It is obviously stressful for individuals to move to other countries that have different cultures, customs and so forth, and to adopt themselves to these things that are new to them. This is especially the case in terms, say, food. Studies on immigration show that immigrants are usually maintain their eating habit, and thus they start their businesses for restaurants in the host countries. Therefore, with keeping their own customs, they can have less stressful lives in the new countries. This maintenance of the customs in the home countries also plays a role in the protection of their ethnic identity. This, maintenance of their identities with their home countries, is important to people who have strong love of their home countries. As far as I observe, most of the international students at our university are in this case, in other words, they are proud to have national identification with where they are from. Furthermore, even without strong national identity, there are some sentimental values in these identifications, and maintenance of home cultures and customs greatly contributes to this. However, to some others and to me, it is preferred to adopt the new customs in the host countries, because it can make the lives in the new country easier. Although it is stressful to face all the new things and adopt myself to the entirely new environment, adopting new lifestyles can lead to easier life. Even if I stick to my own customs, which is still acceptable within families and communities, this makes it harder to live outside of these households and ethnic communities. For instance, if I wanted to stick to Japanese food, I would have to buy Japanese material at Asian grocery stores, which would be much more costly than other kinds of foods at ordinary supermarkets. Another example is, if I stick to the punctual habit of Japanese people, I always have to get angry with the people who are laid back in the host country. Another reason that I would prefer to adopt new customs is that this makes it easier for me to get to know people in the new countries. It is ideal that people in the host countries and those who moved from other countries can get along well with each other even with maintaining both of the cultures. Nonetheless, it is likely that people who adopt the new customs are more acceptable in the host society. Ons study says that it is the second generation of immigrants that can really incorporate into the host societies. The reason for this is because the second generation is more assimilated into the customs in the host countries, though they may still maintain some of the original customs within the households. This suggests that the people in the host countries may have some resistance to foreign customs, and thus, it is more likely to be accepted by the host countries when individuals adopt the new customs. In summary, although some prefer to keep their own customs to have less stressful lives in the new countries and to maintain their ethnic identities, I would prefer to adopt the new customs when I move to other countries. This is based on my considerations that this makes my new life easier and as I can be more highly acceptable to the new host societies.