100% American culture?

 

USA. The mixture of nationalities. The mixture of customs and traditions. Variety of people, their views and attitudes. American nation is full of contrasts, and this is beautiful. People are so different in many ways: language, ideas, religion, beliefs and what not. However, at the same time, there are some values to be shared in the American society, such as personal independence, full individualism, modernism and some other points in common. Though even this makes a single whole and connects people in some way, does it make the US culture as it is? And does totally American culture exist itself at all?

To my mind, there is something invisible that makes American nation really American. It can be mostly explored by watching and analyzing people's everyday routine. Why? Just because usually things we do daily demonstrate a lot of our values and attitudes. People in the USA always try to show their full independence, in every action. And they value their individual responsibility really much. For example, You can notice it while the school process: students get most of their assignment to do on their own, and even helping each other counts as cheating, so it is forbidden. Moreover, though individual work is required by teachers, it is both strongly supported by students! Sometimes even a friend of Yours may think it is rude of You to ask him/her for help with Your homework! So, be prepared for this when You come to an American school to study.

Among other shared values in the culture of USA are modernism, religiosity, consumerism, responsibility. Being punctual is another kind of "value". For Americans it is better to be earlier for 5 minutes for a meeting then even to be on time. Being late is compared to impoliteness, and may make a person who has being waiting even for a couple minutes very upset, or even mad about You. So, try Your best to be on time everywhere and in every situation.

However, on the other hand, USA is compared to the "Melting Pot" of the world. This is so because United States, as a country, represents such a great amount of various cultures and people that it itself become a single "multicultural whole". And I think that this factor makes the difference. To my mind, USA is the place of contrasts, opposites, multiculturalism. This is the country of American dream, of the new opportunities; country of immigrants. Everyone, coming here, has the hope for better existence. The United States is like a magnet for absolutely different persons. It absorbs all the cultural aspects from its every citizen, and mix them into the one great whole: American Culture. Though it is up to You to come here and decide for Yourself: is it a 100% "made in the USA or not".