My name is Wu Zhou. I have lived in Canada for twenty-three years. In Canada, I call myself Joe Wu. Joe is an English name that sounds like Zhou.
Though I have lived here for a long time, I still don't feel Canadian. This is probably because North American manners and Chinese manners are so different.
In China, being modest is a virtue.If someone praises you and says that your English is excellent, you should be modest and say, "No, no. My English is still poor."But in North America, this is usually a sign of being weak and not confident. You should just say, "Thank you."
In Canada, people only ask children about their age. It's not polite to ask an adult's age. They think it is private. But this is common in many places in China.
In both China and North America, it is polite to offer an elderly person a seat on the bus. In North America, however, an elderly person may feel embarrassed about being offered a seat.
When Chinese people eat out in restaurants, they may take turns paying for the meal. In Canada, however, people often share the cost of a meal.
In China, if your guests have no food on their plates, it's polite to put food on their plates. In Canada, you pass food to guests, but you don't usually put food on their plates.
In China, people seldom give extra money to waiters, waitresses, taxi drivers or hotel workers. In North America, this is always done. It is called "tipping".
It's interesting to experience two different cultures. I think understanding cultural differences really helps us to understand each other, live together and work together.