MC - You may want to check your history books. The German and Irish immigrants had very insular and vigorous communities throughout the US when they came here. Flags, language, food, customs - all were practiced here very much as they were in their homelands. It generally took a generation or two prior to the immigrants identifying more with the new home as opposed to their old one.
_________________________
"You're not a g*dda*n looney Martini, you're a fisherman"

R.P. McMurphy - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest