Education is just one area in which America has opened its doors. America is full of different kinds of people and nationalities. I feel as if I am not the only one from a different culture. Along with me, there are millions of other people who live in two worlds. That is the good thing about America. It is not restricted to one nationality and there is a place for everyone. This country gives chances to people to find their spot in this world. America is known for its diversity in cultures. I am just one out of a million. In America people can practice their traditions as individuals, rather than just one nationality practicing the same tradition.

In my family, we have many traditions that are not like the traditions of other people. A common tradition is taking off our shoes when entering our homes. When I go to my friends' homes, I sometimes forget they leave their shoes on, so I start to take off my shoes. Then I remember, and so I just follow them into their homes. But when they come to my home, they always take their shoes off, because it is our tradition. Also, every night we sit together at the dinner table where homemade Indian food is served. We are vegetarians, so there is no meat in the house. Every night, after dinner, we sit in front of God and pray to him for safety, happiness, and for him to always be with us. It is a daily routine for the most part.

Then there are those special days, the holidays. Unfortunately, our holidays do not consist of Thanksgiving or Christmas, but consist of the holidays celebrated in India. Such holidays include Navrati, where we dress up in our cultural costumes and dance a cultural dance all night long at a community gathering. That holiday is nine days long. A holiday that follows Navrati is Diwali. This is a five-day celebration for the New Year. All the homes in India are decorated with small diyas, or small oil-filled lamps; children play with firecrackers, and the night is filled with fireworks. Then there are colorful holidays, like Holi. This is when everyone dresses in white and throws around forty different colored powders or colored water at each other to show the absence of darkness.

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