Studying the German-speaking culture has most affected my perspectives on my own identity and culture. Having become more aware of Americans' tendencies to create an ever-present illusion of happiness and contentment for others to see, I am starting to feel less of a need to mask socially ill-perceived emotions. Also, I have started making more of an effort to create meaningful friendships with others as opposed to the "surface-relationships" in which so many Americans are involved. This same awareness of Americans "wearing masks in public," has also made me appreciate more the idea of "southern hospitality," because it appears that this is something that may be unique to our culture.
Before taking German, I didn't really have any concrete notions of what German culture was like -- if forced to guess, I would have said that it may be similar to the British, but I suspected this wasn't true. Having studied the German-speaking cultures and finding that I can in many ways relate to the "German mindset," I've become even more excited about learning the language and more anxious to pursue opportunities to live in Germany for some extended period of time.
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