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Choose the best answer. (根据短文内容，选择最恰当的答案。) Have you ever found that what may be normal to us may be strange to others?
Why is that so? Not all changes can be explained as tradition or custom. And what causes these differences in the first place? How did some of them become "traditional"?
In Thailand, it is very rude to walk into a person's house with your shoes on.
Shoes are left at the front door. And it is considered rude to cross your legs in company and to point your toes at another person. The feet, as the lowest part of the body, are given the lowest respect. Pointing a toe is demeaning to the person at whom the foot is pointed.
Equally, the head is the most important part of the body and should never be touched by another. Children in most western countries are familiar with being patted on the head and consider it a compliment. In Thailand, however, it is extremely rude.
Also in Thailand and some other Asian countries, when two people meet it is the practice to hold the two hands together in a prayer position. It is called a whai in Thailand and takes the place of the western handshake. Once again this is a much cleaner greeting as there is nobody contact. The height of the hands raised shows the importance of the person to whom the whai is made. The most common whai between two equals is with the tip of the fingers at nose level. When a person of a lower status(社会地位)meets a person of a higher status, the former raises the hands to forehead height and the latter to chest height. It is a very convenient way to greet a friend with a whai in a crowded room where personal contact is difficult. It seems so much more dignified and sincere to greet with a whai rather than a wave(招呼).
It is those customs which travelers consider "odd" that make travel worthwhile.
