Reconciling Two Cultures: The Experience of Immigrants and First Generation Americans from Non-Western Countries

Amer ica is a country founded by immigrants, those hoping to live a better life in a new land. Individuals living in the United States today represent every country around the world, from hundreds of different cultural backgrounds. Culture has an overwhelming impact on the daily lives of all Americans. Culture determines what birth name you receive, how your family interacts, which food is edible, what you are taught to believe in, how you are taught to dress, and the life opportunities that]ay ahead. It is irrefutable that gender roles and traditions are defined by cultural norms. Culture is the foundation for expecta-tions and values an individual holds dear. For immigrants and first generation Americans alike, when their cultural foundation is no longer present, expectations and values can change or be eliminated entirely. The focus of my study is the experiences of immigrants and first generation Americans to see how they reconcile and make sense of a life lived in two spheres. It is, therefore, important to study a variety of cultural groups in order to have a broad spec-trum of experience to draw upon. American culture places high demands on new immigrants to alter their traditional norms. Even first generation Americans, sons and daughters of immigrants, are born into a society unlike the one their parents grew up in. The dominant society does not necessarily agree with the traditional norms of their homeland, although in some case