Who ar ths popl rushing by you on th strt? Mor than 200 million now call Amrica hom, but most of thm can trac thir familis back to othr parts of th world. If you look at th nams on shop windows,you will s that Amricans com from many diffrnt lands. Th ida that ths popl, who onc wr strangrs to th Unitd Stats, hav lost th customs and culturs of thir original countris and hav bcom Amrican is not rally tru. In fact. what xists in Amrica is mor oftn a kind of sid-by-sid living in which groups of popl from othr countris oftn hav kpt many of thir customs and habits.Thy join th gnral Amrican socity only in crtain aras of thir livs such as in schools,businsss,and sports but thy kp many of thir own nativ customs and mannrs socially and at hom. This living sid-by-sid has both advanrags and disadvantags. Somtims it may caus disagrmnts btwn groups whos ways of lif ar vry diffrnt from on anothr. Howvr, thr ar also grat advantags that com from diffrnt kinds of culturs brought by sttlrs from othr lands. Thr is grat frdom of choic among idas, drsss, food, and social customs in Amrica. vryon can find som part of his or hr familiar world in th Unitd Stats.
