How long do you think it will be

[MWOS]

I'll stop associating with mine when I get a pronounceable last name.

Whattup Montereybride

[Deleted]

My parents got off the boat.

Well, a plane.

I think you underestimate the number of recent immigrants in the United States. This board is not at all representative of the general population.

[gretchenindisguise]

My H didn't come to this country until he was 20.

[Deleted]

I don't think it will ever stop. I think people take pride in those things no matter how tenuous the tie. It's not as if we're developing a new culture, kwim?

[Deleted]

When you look different, you kind of can't stop identifying with your ancestral heritage.

[MWOS]

I also know what you're saying about 2-3 generations removed. That would be me and my siblings. We are not fluent in Polish, Polish foods are for holidays, not every day, etc

[gretchenindisguise]

Sept 4, 2012 20:27:49 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

Gretchen, does he (or L) have dual citizenship?

L will once we fill out the paperwork (omg, we're such bad parents).

H is not a US Citizen yet. He qualifies, it just hasn't been important for him to do yet. He's a permanent resident.

[loveday]

I'm off the boat...er, plane. I try to immerse my kids in the culture I grew up in as much as possible. They are dual citizens

[MWOS]

Yes. The pastries. Mmmmmmm. Kolache and Paczki

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%85czki

I can swear in Polish, say a handful of phrases. We call my grandma Buscia. I have a last name that doesn't look like it sounds. But at this stage we are definitely more American than Polish

[-Moe-]

Immigrant here. I have been in this country for 12 years.

Well, not immigrant per se because I carry a US passport, but, yeah, for all intents and purposes!

But we like to say that Sofia is also Boricua!

[hubes]

I am 6 generations off the boat, and I identify very strongly with my Norwegian heritage. We have it traced back 10 generations and to Norway. We still make and eat traditional dishes at holidays. My DH has no "heritage" so to speak, and very few traditions left. It actually makes me sad.

There are a number of traditions that I'll try to pass along to my children. Actually, one of BIL's friend's mother makes lefse every year and has invited me to join their tradition, since I miss it at home. I am so excited about that.

[loveday]

I would very much like to think so. It would be great to hand down traditions I grew up with to my DS and DD and their families.

[sonrisa]

What people think of as ancestral heritage shifts over time. DH's father's family all came from one town in Italy so those roots are pretty recent. My father associated himself with the country where his last name came from (even though no one had lived there for generations). In contrast, I was born in a different country than either of my parents. I moved here for the first time at age 8. I don't tend to go back much further than those three countries.

[sonrisa]

I'm amused people don't think there is an American culture. As someone who grew up elsewhere, I can assure you there is.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2012 20:29:36 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

Sept 4, 2012 20:27:22 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

I don't think it will ever stop. I think people take pride in those things no matter how tenuous the tie. It's not as if we're developing a new culture, kwim?

I don't know. Could we define an "American" culture? What would that look like?

"American" culture is everything.

America! Fuck yeah!

[-Moe-]

Although to be fair, I get you in that globalization has allowed the whole passion for country to be diminished. Cultural traditions may remain, but that whole identity that remains with the country, that love of your country, has decreased dramatically for some.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2012 20:29:36 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

I don't know. Could we define an "American" culture? What would that look like?

I don't think so because we don't have the same sense of community.

I think maybe in small town, usa possibly but otherwise, not really.

[bab]

My H has a green card

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2012 20:36:58 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

We lived with a guy who was going through the citizenship application process. When he was naturalized, he had to renounce his former citizenship. I thought that was kind of sad.

Renouncing doesn't always count though. The rules can be strange and depend on the country. You can have countries consider you a citizen when you don't and vice versa. You can even have two countries claim you for their own purposes and have neither country agree with the other's view.

That sentence made no sense, did it?

[nadasteph]

I've stopped. I say I'm Canadian. I am such a huge mix including some native and my families are all at least 6 or 7th generation Canadian, so I don't really feel like I associate with anything else. We don't have any holiday traditions or dishes that go back to any roots.

[sonrisa]

American culture?

Jazz, blues, rap, country music, cowboy boots, baseball, american football, basketball, Vegas, Hollywood, NYC, a southern drawl, corn fields, dual obsessions with dieting and obesity, fast food, pizza, ribs, Warhol, coca cola, walmart, aaron copland, george gershwin, phillip glass, frank lloyd wright, jasper johns, oldenberg, woodie guthrie, janis joplin, bruce springstein, johnny cash, nirvana...

Just like other countries there are things shared beyond the borders that are still distinctly american when taken together. There are also regional things which are not shared by everyone.

[Deleted]

Oh that sucks, nurse. Citizenship is such a complicated issue because there is no, shit, I'm having a dumb ass moment. I'm not even sure what word I'm looking for. But you know, when shit is the same from one place to another like the way we do drivers licenses now? Or something.

I am stupid. Forgive me.

This is a sign that I should be drinking, yes?

[Robot Jen]

My dad's side came to America 10 generations ago. My family is big on genealogy. I can recite the names of my paternal lineage all the way back to John Robotjen, who came to America in 1750.

[EmilieMadison]

Never? I think it's pretty ingrained in our DNA to want to have a connection to our personal history, even if it's just the name of a place.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2012 20:58:58 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

American culture?

Jazz, blues, rap, country music, cowboy boots, baseball, american football, basketball, Vegas, Hollywood, NYC, a southern drawl, corn fields, dual obsessions with dieting and obesity, fast food, pizza, ribs, Warhol, coca cola, walmart, aaron copland, george gershwin, phillip glass, frank lloyd wright, jasper johns, oldenberg, woodie guthrie, janis joplin, bruce springstein, johnny cash, nirvana...

Just like other countries there are things shared beyond the borders that are still distinctly american when taken together. There are also regional things which are not shared by everyone.

nursecramer, you asked what "American" looks like.

To most people (in this country and in other countries), "American" is white.

[Deleted]

Thank you.

And I don't mean that America has no culture at all. I just don't think they have the same cohesive cultural familial experience that many other nations have. What it means to be an American isn't really as pervasive or widespread as for many other cultures mostly because of our history. The cultural expectations aren't necessarily the same.

Obviously there are exceptions though.

[-Moe-]

Sept 4, 2012 21:06:58 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

Sept 4, 2012 20:58:58 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

American culture?

Jazz, blues, rap, country music, cowboy boots, baseball, american football, basketball, Vegas, Hollywood, NYC, a southern drawl, corn fields, dual obsessions with dieting and obesity, fast food, pizza, ribs, Warhol, coca cola, walmart, aaron copland, george gershwin, phillip glass, frank lloyd wright, jasper johns, oldenberg, woodie guthrie, janis joplin, bruce springstein, johnny cash, nirvana...

Just like other countries there are things shared beyond the borders that are still distinctly american when taken together. There are also regional things which are not shared by everyone.

nursecramer, you asked what "American" looks like.

To most people (in this country and in other countries), "American" is white.

So sad. This is why the concept of "heritage" is lost for many. "Americana" seems to be white dominant.

[sonrisa]

Sept 4, 2012 21:06:58 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

Sept 4, 2012 20:58:58 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

American culture?

Jazz, blues, rap, country music, cowboy boots, baseball, american football, basketball, Vegas, Hollywood, NYC, a southern drawl, corn fields, dual obsessions with dieting and obesity, fast food, pizza, ribs, Warhol, coca cola, walmart, aaron copland, george gershwin, phillip glass, frank lloyd wright, jasper johns, oldenberg, woodie guthrie, janis joplin, bruce springstein, johnny cash, nirvana...

Just like other countries there are things shared beyond the borders that are still distinctly american when taken together. There are also regional things which are not shared by everyone.

nursecramer, you asked what "American" looks like.

To most people (in this country and in other countries), "American" is white.

I'd say that outside the US "American" is black and white. Latino and Asian Americans are almost absent from the international vision of what it means to be American.

[Deleted]

Oh, yeah.

There's that Obama guy.

He's pretty prominent. LOL.

[-Moe-]

Sept 4, 2012 21:14:50 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

Oh, yeah.

There's that Obama guy.

He's pretty prominent. LOL.

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