Project Introduction During my formative years in secondary education, I embarked on a significant journey from my country of origin to the United States. I start an enduring sojourn within an unfamiliar cultural environment. This experience has persisted through the present day. Throughout this transformative journey, I had the privilege of encountering individuals who shared a strikingly similar experiential narrative. These individuals, often having departed from their native homelands at a tender age, embarked on the pursuit of establishing a novel existence within an unaccustomed city or even country.

Interestingly, through in-depth interviews with such individuals, I found that some of them, even though they left China at the age of 6 and have been living in the U.S., however, they still do not feel a sense of belonging in the U.S. Rather, they would like to go back to their hometowns as soon as they finish their studies. Conversely, a contrasting subset of individuals, who may have traversed national boundaries for comparatively brief durations, such as one or two years, or even mere months, demonstrated a remarkable capacity for swift and profound acculturation. They quickly established a sense of belonging in this strange country. This phenomenon piqued my curiosity, prompting an in-depth exploration into the intricacies of identity formation, particularly the dynamic process of cultivating a sense of belonging within the context of international migration and cultural adaptation.

Research methodology and case studies Several of my Chinese friends whom I befriended while residing abroad, despite having left China many years ago, their Chinese tradition is almost subconscious. Following interviews with them, it became apparent that their most expressive annual experience of belonging was centered around the celebration of Chinese New Year with their fellow expatriate compatriots. This evokes reminiscences of Bell Hooks'¹ (2009) insightful discourse on the concept of belonging, in which she narrates her own feelings of estrangement when she journeyed from Kentucky to Stanford University. Hooks candidly acknowledged that it was the annual return to her familial home, viewed as a ritual act, which rekindled her sense of belonging. Thus, I came to realize that people's belonging might be shaped by repetitive ritual behaviors or traditions.

The act of eating is a ritual that is repeated in our daily lives. As a Chinese, chopsticks are the most representative tableware. Therefore, I first thought about the ritual behavior of chopsticks, focusing on the cultural significance behind the use of chopsticks in the West, i.e., what does the use of chopsticks in Western countries represent. By recalling the occasions when chopsticks were used in Western countries, I found that the main scenes of chopstick use occurred when I was cooking at home and when I was having a meal with Chinese friends. This triggered me to think further about the cultural background behind the use of chopsticks in Western countries. In my daily life, when I eat in the school canteen or go out to a restaurant, I mostly use a knife and fork, and the only time I use chopsticks is when I eat Chinese food with my Chinese friends. This use of chopsticks is not conventional but represents a gathering of people from the same cultural background. This experience brings a sense of belonging to the cultural group and a sense of presence in a strange society. The use of chopsticks at this time is not just a choice of cutlery, but also a cultural symbol, i.e., a group of people from the same cultural background shaping a sense of belonging and a sense of presence in a foreign country through this behavior. ²