Melting Pot?

[John McPain]

In 6th grade I learned how amazingly different our society is, and has been (thoughout history). I was tought that we as a country are a "Melting Pot" of sorts. Many cultures come in and add to the culture of the whole.

While this may have been true when our country was being founded, I do not belive that this is the case in this day and age. Almost every time I hear a discussion (irl) about immigration and Spanish speaking Americans it comes to the same thing.

"If they come to OUR country they should learn OUR language"

I live in a very very conservitive part of the country (my county has voted republican sence the civil war). I have only traveled out of the country twice. Both times I went to mexico.
When I was down there I noticed somthing that really shook the way I saw the idea of America being this amazing "Melting Pot". There culture and people were very give and take. Whenever I would try to comunicate with a non-english speaking person & learn a word (like sun glasses or chess set) they would tell me what it is in spanish. This didn't suprise me at all. I expected to learn parts of their language because I was visiting THEIR country. What did suprise me was after they told me how to say it in Spanish they asked me how to say it in English, and that was to me was a (very) small trade of culture.

I have had very long and deep conversations with my army recruter. One of the chats we had was about one of her many trips to Japan. She told me that the Japaniese are kind of greedy, but not in the way you might think. If you want to know how to say somthing in Japaniese and ask a random stranger (you of corse using crude Japaniese) how to say somthing or go somewhere (like a museum) they (the Japaniese people) would like to learn the English word for museum alot more then tell you the Japaniese word.

So, here are the questions.

Are we the same "Melting Pot" as we were when we founded this great country?

Should we be more open to learn new words and ideas?

Have we become a solid impregnable culture that has no room for change?