Americans are extroverted, enthusiastic and straightforward, and informal. There are many differences in their manners and customs. The United States is a country with a strong sense of time, and all kinds of activities begin at a predetermined time. It is impolite to be late. Dating Americans is easy. As long as you make a phone call, the other party will readily agree to meet in the shortest possible time. Americans also have the habit of reciprocity, but they dare not accept too heavy gifts. First, Americans don't value the gift itself. Second, the law prohibits giving gifts that are too heavy. Handicrafts, artworks and famous wines brought from hometown are favorite gifts for Americans. Except for holidays, you don't need to give gifts when you are invited to visit Americans' homes or even eat. American society has the habit of tipping, and all services need to be tipped, such as hotel doorman and room service. No less than USD L is required, and 15% will be charged when the restaurant checks out.
Americans treat people to dinner, which belongs to the nature of business communication and is mostly arranged in hotels and clubs. The expenses are paid by the company, and close relatives and friends are invited to have dinner at home. Because of different regions and nationalities, the types and tastes of American food are different. Hamburgers, "hot dogs", pies, doughnuts and fried chicken in KFC are all popular foods in the world, but American family dinners are economical, unpretentious and informal. The usual family dinner is a long table with a big salad, a big roast chicken or barbecue, all kinds of cold dishes, a plate of fried rice, a plate of bread, sweets, fruits, cold drinks and wine. The host and guest sat around the table, and the host said "please". Everyone picked up a plate and ate their favorite vegetable rice. After eating, they add them at will and chat while eating.
As a way to make friends, Americans treat their guests to dinner, have a drink or spend the weekend at a country house. They don't necessarily ask for anything in return. If there is an opportunity, you can invite them to dinner at home. After dinner, guests should express special thanks to their hosts, especially the hostess.
American eating habits
Americans usually drink cocktails before lunch and dinner, but in California, people mostly drink wine.
At the same time, we usually eat a salad before eating the staple food. Stir-fried mushrooms and onion rings can be used as appetizers, steak, pork chops and chicken (legs) are staple foods, and lobster, shellfish, various fish and even freshwater fish are collectively referred to as seafood. French fries are very popular and almost indispensable food.
In addition, we should pay special attention to the fact that if there is leftover food, we must pack it and take it home to avoid waste.
Americans eat with knives and forks, and the way they eat is also very particular. Therefore, when invited to have dinner with American friends, we should pay special attention to their dining habits. Generally speaking, there is a knife and two forks on the dining table. The fork outside is for you to eat salad, the fork inside is for staple food and other snacks, and the knife is for cutting meat. If you use both hands, hold the fork in your left hand and the knife in your right hand, don't hold the knife for too long at a time.
American breakfast includes scrambled or boiled eggs, sausages, potato chips, pancakes, jelly, toast, muffins, orange juice and coffee.
If you are not familiar with American restaurants, you should pay attention to the following points:
1. Choose a suitable restaurant (such as family restaurant, specialty restaurant, cafeteria);
2. Restaurant business hours (business hours 165438+ 0: 30 am to evening);
Generally speaking, you should reserve a table in advance:
4. After arriving at the dining room, you can't go straight to the dining table and enter the dining table unless there is a notice of "Sit at will" in the dining room;
5. When checking out, don't forget to leave a certain percentage of the tip for the waiter (generally 10% ~ 15% of the actual total).
With the accelerated pace of life in the United States, fast food came into being. Its fast food chain stores are all over the world, among which McDonald's fast food chain stores are the most influential. The fast food provided includes: hamburger, roast beef, steak, ham, sandwich, KFC, potato chips, baked pies, ice cream and various carbonated drinks.
-
Dinner manners in the west.
Whether you are traveling abroad or on business, if someone invites you to a formal banquet, you need to know some basic etiquette of western social places.
Arrival: You'd better arrive on time, even if you are four or five minutes late, but you must never be more than a quarter of an hour late, otherwise you will be embarrassed. If you go to a rich and elegant family, the first person you meet when you enter the gate may be a man, who is responsible for hanging your clothes or giving you directions, so don't shake hands with him in a hurry, observe and make a decision.
Preparation: enter the living room, don't worry about not finding a seat. Westerners usually walk around on this occasion, waiting for the host to introduce other guests to themselves. You can choose a suitable glass of wine and other drinks from the waiter and chat with others while drinking. When the door of the restaurant is opened, the host and hostess will lead everyone into the restaurant. The host and hostess should go last, but if the host is a big shot, the host and he can go first.
Seating: the rules of western food seating are very particular, and seats are generally arranged. At this time, the gentleman or lady who comes with you will never be arranged to sit next to you. Europeans and Americans think that acquaintances have many opportunities to chat and should take this opportunity to make more friends. The host and hostess sit on the top and bottom of the rectangular table. The male guest sits on the right side of the hostess and the female guest sits on the right side of the host. Other guests are seated alternately by men and women. Before the man goes to the table, he should help the woman on the right to pull out the chair, and then sit down by herself after the woman sits firmly.
After everyone is seated, the host takes the napkin and you take the napkin. Remember: no matter what happens at this time (such as the host has the habit of praying before meals), you can't take the napkin until the host takes it away.
Dining: The general menu is three to five courses. The first three dishes should be cold cuts, soup and fish, the last two dishes are the main course (meat or seafood with vegetables), dessert or fruit, and finally coffee and snacks. When eating, don't focus on the enjoyment of your stomach, and talk to people around you more. If coffee doesn't appear after dessert, you may be invited to the living room for a drink later. In a word, you can put down your napkin and leave your seat after you see the hostess put it on the table and stand up. At this time, the polite man has to stand up and help the lady pull open the chair. The lady who is taken care of doesn't have to have special ideas about this series of attentions, he should.
Farewell: If you don't want to be conspicuous, you'd better not go first or last. In the meantime, you can leave at any time, but once you leave, you should leave quickly.
-
Etiquette for entering a foreigner's office or residence
Arriving at the foreigner's office or residence should be agreed and notified in advance, and arrive on time. If there is no one waiting, ring the bell or knock on the door before entering, and the owner can only enter after agreeing. If there is no answer, ring the bell or knock at the door later (but don't ring the bell for too long). No one is allowed to enter without permission.
If you are in a hurry or have no prior agreement, but you have to go, you should try to avoid disturbing each other in the middle of the night; If you have to make an appointment with the other party during the break as a last resort, you should apologize immediately after meeting the person who made the appointment, say "I'm sorry to disturb you" and explain the reason for the interruption.
You can enter the room with the permission of the host or at the invitation of the host. Although sometimes the negotiation takes a short time, you should go indoors instead of standing at the door to talk. Sometimes, if the host is not invited into the room, he can retreat to the door and talk outside.
When you enter the room, if you need to talk for a short time, you don't have to sit down and don't stop after you finish. If it takes a long time, you can sit down at the invitation of the host. If there is no prior agreement, try not to talk for too long.
When you are invited to visit or visit a foreign country, you should arrive at the time suggested or agreed by the host. It is impolite to arrive early or late. If you are late, apologize. Visits are usually arranged at 10 am or around 4 pm. In the west, it is a habit to prepare snacks and drinks for entertainment. Guests should not refuse, but should taste and drink the drinks they accept (but don't be forced when they are really not used to it).
Without the owner's invitation or consent, you may not ask to visit the owner's courtyard and residence. You can visit the house under the guidance of the owner, but even familiar friends should not touch personal items and indoor furnishings except books, flowers and plants.
Greet everyone in the host family, especially his wife (husband) and children. If there are children present, you should take the initiative to shake hands and hug them to show your love. If you have cats and dogs at home, you shouldn't show fear or disgust. Don't kick and blow.
When you leave, you should say goodbye to the host politely and thank him for his reception.
Americans celebrate the New Year. The most lively thing is New Year's Eve. That night, churches all over the country held grand worship activities. People gather in churches, streets or squares, singing poems, praying, wishing and regretting, and welcoming the time to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. At midnight, 12, church bells rang all over the country. The band played the famous nostalgic song bon voyage. In music, excited people hug and even strangers can kiss each other. In this way, people greet the New Year with farewell sadness and longing for a new life.
Indians in North America and their unique customs. Every year on New Year's Eve, they hold a unique "Spring Fire Party", where the whole family is shortlisted by the bonfire, singing and dancing, laughing and laughing. When the dawn came, they burned their worn-out clothes as a symbol of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.
New Year's Eve activities often last until two or three o'clock the next morning. On New Year's Day, it is generally peaceful and idle. Many people get up late, then watch TV and have New Year's Eve dinner with family and friends.
Although New Year's Day is not the busiest day, there are still many states that hold celebrations with strong local colors. There is a rose club in California, which is the biggest New Year celebration in America. Seventy or eighty years ago, some club members in rural California decorated their wagons with flowers and held some small celebrations in the village during the citrus ripening season. Today, it has developed into a grand celebration of a ten-mile-long street covered with flowers. Fifty or sixty floats made entirely of flowers, especially roses, walked slowly for several miles, with models made of various flowers on them. This attracted not only men, women and children in California to fill the streets, but also millions of TV viewers.
In Philadelphia, there is a 10 hour costume parade. The origin of this activity can be traced back to the custom of Swedish and British immigrants who settled along the Delaware River in the middle of17th century. In those days, they always dressed up and held a New Year celebration parade in the countryside. Although today's costume parade in Philadelphia is more organized than in the past, it still retains its previous characteristics. People who took part in the parade, some dressed as clowns, some disguised as women (according to ancient customs, women were not allowed to take part in this kind of parade), accompanied by floats, singing and dancing, a sea of people, very lively. The number of participants is always around 1 10,000 to 20,000 every year.
In addition, many states hold football matches in the New Year. California, where flowers are in full bloom, has the Rose Cup football match; There is a cotton cup football match in Dallas, Texas, which is rich in cotton; There is a sugar cup football match in New Orleans, Louisiana, which produces sugar cane. Then came the Crocodile Cup in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Sun Cup in El Paso, Texas.
Another interesting habit of American students is to make new year's resolutions, which they call "New Year's resolutions". This resolution is usually not ambitious, but some simple and practical plans. For example, "I will definitely quit smoking" or "I will treat my neighbors well" and so on. They always tell everyone frankly in order to get supervision and encouragement.
====
The origin of Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving Day is an important holiday for Americans. Every year on the fourth Thursday of June 165438+ 10, American families hold a big Thanksgiving dinner. The most common traditional food is Indian pudding made of turkey, pumpkin pie and corn flour. On this day, some Americans take family trips or visit relatives and friends to enjoy family happiness. During Thanksgiving, American cities and towns will hold costume parades, theatrical performances, shooting, target shooting and other sports competitions. Some American families, religious organizations and charities also provide free turkey banquets for the poor, orphans and vagrants, so that those unfortunate people can also get a human warmth on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving originated from early settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts. These immigrants were called Puritans in England. Dissatisfied with the incomplete religious reform of the Church of England and the political repression and religious persecution of the king and the Church of England, these Puritans left the Church of England and went to Holland. Later, they decided to move to a desolate place on the other side of the Atlantic, hoping to live freely according to their own wishes.
1620 In September, the ship Mayflower left England with 102 Puritans and their families for North America. After more than two months of hard sailing, it landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and settled down from then on. In the first winter, more than half of these Puritans died at once because of lack of food, cold weather, epidemic disease and overwork. The following spring, Masasuode, the chief of the local Indian tribe, led the kind Indians, gave grain seeds to the Puritans and taught them to hunt, grow crops and fish. With the help of Indians, the Puritans had a bumper harvest that year. William bradford, the first governor, suggested setting up a festival to celebrate the harvest and thank God for his gift. At the same time, I also want to use this festival to strengthen the harmonious relationship between whites and Indians. 1621165438+1On a Thursday in late October, the Puritans brought by Massasod and 90 Indians got together to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in American history. Male Puritans go out hunting and catch turkeys, while women cook delicious food with corn, pumpkin, sweet potato and fruit at home. In this way, whites and Indians ate, chatted, sang and danced around the bonfire, and the whole celebration lasted for three days.
Since then, Europeans who immigrated to the United States have basically followed the form of the first Thanksgiving celebration on the North American continent. 1789, Washington, the first president of the United States, officially stipulated that165438+1October 26th was the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the whole country. However, for a long time, each state has set a holiday date according to its own situation. 194 1 year, with the approval of President Roosevelt, the U.S. Congress passed a bill declaring the fourth Thursday of June as the national Thanksgiving Day every year.
====
A gift from "God"
On the fourth Thursday in June, the American people celebrate their most important traditional folk festival-Thanksgiving Day. The festival begins at 162 1. That autumn, British immigrants who came to the United States across the ocean held a three-day carnival, thanking God for giving them a bumper harvest. Since then, this custom has continued and gradually became popular in various places. 1863, American President Lincoln officially declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday. At that time, family reunion and national celebration will be as grand and warm as the Spring Festival in China.
Remember to eat roast turkey on Thanksgiving Day!
Why do you eat roast birds on Thanksgiving Day in the West? We want to read the Bible. There is a passage in the Exodus of the Old Testament: Moses took the Israelites into desert of sinai without eating or drinking. The Israelis are very dissatisfied. Start complaining. Moses said that God had heard their complaints. They will get food. As a result, a large number of quails flew in and landed in their camp the next day. Moses said, This is the flesh that God has given you to eat. So they ate a big meal happily. This may be the earliest Thanksgiving in Judaism. There is no record in the Bible of how the Israelites eat these quails. But when I think about it, I know it must be baked. Because they are in the desert, they are short of water and can't cook. It is impossible to steam. They can't steam. Only baking, no cooking utensils. They must not have escaped from Egypt with a heavy and expensive pot. There was no aluminum or iron at that time. The clay pots used by ordinary people are easily broken, so you can't take them with you on the road, so you must have roasted quail. This is also the best way to eat. Therefore, there is such a content in western culture: poultry is God's salvation and gift. People should bake and eat. And it's best to eat it on Thanksgiving Day.
Americans celebrate the Spring Festival.
194 1 year, the US Congress passed a decree to designate the fourth Thursday of 1 1 month as Thanksgiving Day. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving mainly by reuniting with their families, and then enjoying a big holiday dinner together. Everyone whose family doesn't live in the same city should go home before Thanksgiving. This is very similar to the Spring Festival in China.
News media reported that Thanksgiving holiday is also the most tense time for American airlines, with almost full flights and frequent flight delays. However, people are probably willing to reunite with their families and celebrate festivals.
Every Thanksgiving, every American family eats turkey. Turkey has become a symbol of Thanksgiving. In addition, they usually eat some traditional dishes, such as zucchini, cream onion, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and so on.
There is a special activity in new york, that is, Macy's Department Store holds a festival parade every Thanksgiving.
Jokes about "Eating Turkey on Thanksgiving Day"
Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a bit like China people celebrate the Spring Festival, which is a day of family reunion. Usually, Americans don't pay attention to food, but Thanksgiving Day is an exception. People are used to munching on turkey. This is related to another legend of the origin of Thanksgiving: at that time, the ancestors of North Americans moved to the New World, and they suffered a poor agricultural harvest just after landing, which was hated by the local indigenous Indians. When winter comes, immigrants think they are doomed, so they leave it to fate; Unexpectedly, at this desperate moment, a large group of turkeys flew from a distance and let them live. People have always thought that God helped them through the difficulties with Enshi turkey, so they "felt" this "favor" and formed the custom of eating turkey to commemorate them.
Turkey, also known as "MeleagrisGallopavo", is tall. The cock weighs 12 to 18 kg, and the hen weighs 8 to 9 kg. It lays 60 to 70 eggs every year, and the eggs weigh 75 to 80 grams .. There are still savages in North America today, but not many.
It is worth mentioning that Mark Twain, a great American writer, is humorous about munching turkey on Thanksgiving Day. He wrote, "Let everyone donate humble, sincere and heartfelt thanks" instead of "slaughtering" turkeys. Isn't it "bite the hand that feeds you" to eat turkey on Thanksgiving?