Lots of immigrants in the US are so sad because no Americans give a shit about their native culture or even know where their home country is.
There are some culinary interests- Chinese and Thai restaurants, and some sexual interests such as Asian porn, for example or Russian mail order brides. And some fads such as Rubics cube and the like.
Another thing to add- America has a race structure that is very different from that of other countries-an apartheid structure- why it opposed South Africa is beyond me. It divides people into five very arbitrary "tribes"- the whites, the blacks, the asians, the hispanics, and the American Indians. By coming to the US you need to see where you fit in within this strange quinto-tribal system. And the society pushes you into it. Since most, at least younger, people want to fit in, they start acting as Asian Americans, Black Americans etc. And do so in exaggerated ways. I used to work in Monterrey Park in CA and I would be amazed how these different kids of so many different Asian countries would hang out together. Asians are now a nationality, white is a nationality, black is a nationality. A domestic nationality, that is. A very unnatural system for most people. And these new American "nationalities" are often opposed to each other.
Many act weird. Like I would see Filipinos in the US walk with a ghetto limp, most Asians would try and act nurdy and distant, looking at me with suspicious eyes. The Carribean blacks would now have to act like a "brother" and dislike other groups and celebrate Kwanzaa. Some Jamaican people would still hold on to their values- they have told me this- "in Jamaica we do not call ourselves black or white, we call ourselves Jamaican". And this other Jamaican guy told me-" I never heard the N- word until I came to the US". Jamaica is a real multicultural society where all people are just well...Jamaican. End of the story. Some preserved their individuality but still when you talk to the Carribean people, they look cautious and check you out.
The Europeans - East, West, etc. also fall under the greatest degree of pressure to americanize because they are not 'foreigners' as soon as the accent is dropped. Now they, along with the Jews(!!!)- are suddenly 'white'. One would be tempted to see it as a blessing, but it is not as simple. First of all you need to get rid of all the intellectualism, put on airs, oppose the other " tribes" and deal with constant homophobia (!) without being gay. You write poetry you fag? You paint- you faggot! You speak foreign languages- why don't you be like any other American and speak English. You play the accordeon- unamerican! I remember when I was still FOB I would put on a nice cloak, nice Italian shoes and go out for a walk. Gays on the subway would ask me about the color of my underwear. I got mocking looks, etc. Jeers, leers, WTF?
I remember I still thought I was back in the home country, put on a nice embroidered shirt, tight shorts and went to the beach to pick up girls. I New York.
I remember in Ukraine that is what you would do. The girls would immediately stare and say- "Wow, look at that boy- so cute so well dressed. An embroidered shirt- so sexy".You can imagine what happened on the beach in the US. The looks I got from guys were like they saw the devil himself. Then, you are not supposed to speak with any accent otherwise you are a freak and immediately they frown and start looking at you with hostile eyes. Asking for directions is scary. They can snap back at you! The Asians are expected to have an accent and Hispanics are supposed to but you are not allowed. Get americanized. Act white! Otherwise you are a freak and a homo.
Enough to give you a complex. In some ways those of different races are expected to be different, but you are not.
And then you are so poor that people just see you as some kind of loser.
Recently I was in the Philippines and I bought and wore some native Filipino Hawaiian style shirts. The Filipinos paid no attention to it. But various Anglos would be on my case. Mocking looks and smirks, teasings, etc.
Now had I been a Black American wearing enormous dreadlocks with a knit African banner color cap the size or a large potato basket, they would leave me alone and turn away respectfully.
I felt like saying "Shut up you freaking gravedigger, you plumber. I want to enjoy because my life is bright, your life is the color of a sparrow and a rat".
And they too thought I was gay.
