Best of both worlds?

As first generation immigrants, we stand at the crossroads between two distinct civilizations with the awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of both. Historically, people's traditions, values and choices have inevitably been limited by the geographical accident of their birth. However, leaving the land of your birth and starting your adult life in a different nation puts us in the somewhat unique position of being able to cherry pick cultural and societal norms from both our native and adopted country- keep what we like, reject what we don't. We can do so because we are situated in a rather rare niche, where since we don't completely belong to either cultural group, we can consciously decide which values and lifestyle choices from each best fit and empower our lives.
For instance, Asians generally have a philosophy of living within their means and not borrowing on credit what they cannot forsee paying back easily. This contrasts greatly with the American lifestyle of lavish spending, and saving as an afterthought. Obviously, staying true to their traditions has real and tangible benefits for Asian immigrants. On the other hand, the American culture of entrepeneurship, of rewarding thinking outside the box, is the one value that has led to their enormous progress as individuals and as a society over the last century. Growing up in a conformist and collectivist society, learning this contrasting modus operandi can contibute greatly to realizing our own potentials.
There are innumerable examples of what we keep, what we let go of, and what we learn from scratch as we become residents in a new land. But what's really exciting is recognizing that we have the choice to do so!