America has traditionally been referred to as a "melting pot," welcoming people from all over the world, different races and religions; all hoping to find a better life, new opportunities and freedom. From the beginning of American history, immigrants came here and brought their traditions and culture. America is the most diverse country in the world. If you ask any American who was born here about their nationality, they would tell you a story about where they were born, grew up, and where their ancestors were originally from, and how much percent of each national blood they have. .
When I first arrived in New York, I was surprised that the city is divided into national communities, such as China town, Brighton Beach, Little Italy and many others. Some people in these communities don't speak any English, even though they have lived here for decades. They don't need this, because everybody around speaks their native language. Today the trend is toward multiculturalism, not assimilation. The "melting pot" idea does not work any more. There is a new metaphor: America is a "salad bowl" or a "mosaic " - all ingredients are different and could not become a homogeneous substance. We are a plurality of different people who live in the same territory and call themselves - Americans.
So, what fundamentally distinguishes American culture?.
First of all, the main person for any American is "me, myself, and I." The word "I" is always a capital letter, then the word "we" is in the lower case. American perceives himself as a center of universe. His personal interests always prevail over the rest of the public. American society consists of many individuals. Even "people" for Americans means many different "I's," not all the same "we," as it is understood by Russian people like me. There are a lot of proverbs in Russian culture proved idea of generality, with all together as one, we can do a lot. "One is not an army," and ironically speaking, "I" not the letter, but the meaning of the word I, is the last letter in Russian alphabet.
