I am from Russia. When I think about hospitality and friendship, "bread and salt" remind me of that. It is an old Russian tradition to share this bread with people who are really important to you.  For example, when a foreigner arrives in Russia for the first time, there could be a welcoming ceremony. When important, respected guests arrive, they are presented with a loaf of bread (corovai) placed on an embroidered cloth (rushnik) and a salt holder is placed on top of the bread.

In Russian culture, bread is the most respected food and salt is associated with a long friendship (we have a saying "to eat a lot of salt together", meaning to know someone a long time). To say, "bread and salt" is to say, "You are welcome". America said those words to me too. I feel so happy here, I made a lot of friends and hope to be a part of The Great American Story.