Growing Up As An American Of A Foreign Country Has Had A Significant Impact On My Life

Culture is part of special traditions and rites of passage. In this paper I am going to write about American culture compared to German culture. To do this I interviewed Michael Heidenreich, who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1943.

Coming from a German culture, my family stays traditional in the way we celebrate holidays and eat food. The differences between German and American culture are very evident in their holiday traditions and meals, but there are also some similarities, such as language, that are often overlooked.

Another huge part of my life that comes from my German heritage is the foods that my family and I eat. Germans eat a lot of meats. The main meat that my family and I have is pork and sometimes steak. Pork is a very common food in Germany. We even have sausage occasionally. My whole family sits at the dinner table while my father and grandpa cook our dinners. Another thing that the adults do is drink beer on special occasions. My cousins and I are under age so we obviously can’t have

Coming to the United States has changed my life. When I was in my country, life wasn't easy for me. My dad used to live in the U.S I was in Dominican Republic. Because my dad was in the U.S it was difficult for me, brother and sister. My mom didn't get pay a lot and food were really expensive. After I came to the U.S I saw a lot change I my life. Many people in my country used to tell me that U.S is one of the best place to live. United States have all the opportunity such as a good education, a lot jobs and easy way to

There are other interesting facts like did you know that gummy bears were invented in Germany.The first ever printed book was made in German. After world war 2 The country was divided By the Berlin wall which made East and West Germany till later on America and Russia decided to tear it down.

Coming to the U.S. has changed my life. Since I arrived at the Newark Airport few year ago. This coming to the U.S. has changed my life forever. Going to school in the U.S. was an important change in my life. Learning English and communicating with people made me know many interesting parts of American way of life. For example, I like to watch a history movie with friends or visit a museum with friends. These can helping me improve my knowledge of the American culture and understanding more English. To having something to interesting is made my life to have fun.

It can be very challenging to move away from the country you grew up in. Recalling all those moments of laughter, excitement, and adventure can only make one more and more depressed. I was born in Port-Au -Prince, which is the capital of Haiti and raised in Gonaives. I spend most of my early childhood in Haiti. I only knew my native language, food, music, and history. I was only familiar with my native holidays and celebration. Therefore, the day my mother came to me and told me I had been awarded my resident card, and we had to move to America. My life changed forever.

I believe that what it means to be an American is to struggle,not be accepted for you are,and to feel and be treated as someone less then other people. To be an American is to struggle with being undocumented and not being able to have a an actual document stating you went to school and have and education. “The federal dream act, which would have provided a path for undocumented children and would penalize states that failed to provide in-state tuition for undocumented students, failed to make it through congress in 2011. (I’m American too’:Undocumented students wait for Obama)” This is a key factor as to why being an American isn’t always

A particularly salient example of this can be found in an editorial in the Pantagraph entitled The German Days Celebration: "A Great Occasion," which provided "a rare testimony to the capacity of our institutions for assimilating the blood of every Caucasian land when thousands of the old world thus meet to honor their native country and at the same time hold highest admiration for their adopted country and pledge it their unqualified allegiance." The editorial ended with a note that "the people of Bloomington are indebted to their German-American fellow- citizens, far and near." The celebration was reported as an event that would live on in memory and "[c]hildren of today will be able to tell the children of tomorrow of Bloomington's celebration of 1913, when the nationalities of a free republic mingled, joined hands and marched in unison

As an American expatriate growing up overseas, I understand how important the news is. Oftentimes I learned of new developments not through the news, but by living through them. I remember when a volcano erupted in Iceland and stopped all European air traffic, stranding my friends in countries scattered across the globe. I remember when the President of South Korea got caught up in the mob and killed himself, angry riots of Koreans kept my family from being able to safely go home. I understand how important truthfulness, speed and accuracy are in reporting and that the media with which you report is also paramount. That being said, I welcome the opportunity to learn new skills. Having grown up overcoming cultural obstacles, language barriers

Does your heritage make an impact on how you live today? To be honest I am not really affected by my Moroccan heritage, but I would like to start some more traditions with my family. Some things I would like to start doing are eating more Moroccan foods, learning about their religion, and learning about how they live.

My mother’s time in the Air Force opened me up to many experiences that one would not typically be able to experience. Due to her being in the Air Force, I am now able to say that I have had the opportunity to live outside the United States, more specifically : Germany. The main reactions I tend to get when I inform others of this consist primarily of shock, interest and curiosity. This sharing of information normally results in plenty of questions, one of them being why I lived there in the first place. This would then lead to me having to go into full detail about what my mother had done for a living at the time and how I had lived in multiple states before finally flying out of the country to Bitburg, Germany at the young age of 5 years old.

Along with a handful of my peers, I visited the capital city of Berlin, after taking three years of German I felt this exchange to be empowering. Being able to speak, with natives is something that is not only necessary in certain situations, but something I believe that they appreciate. Efforts to learn foreign language and culture allows one not to be restricted by language barriers or expecting them to accommodate your English-speaking needs. We then arrived in Scheessel, a small town outside of Hamburg where I stayed with Emilie Tietjen, a student whom I had hosted in the

We walked for three long blocks past relatively new buildings - 19th century Romanesque renovated and art nouveau apartment buildings - until we reached the town’s market square, where I saw a row of elegant buildings that looked like a façade. Our guide pointed to the brown brick building and said, "If you looked closer you'll notice that it's not a facade. It's a patrician house called the Alter Schwede, built around the 13th century, a unique representation of the Hanseatic style.” He talked about the different architecture-styles from the 13th – 14th century patrician gable houses to 19th century Romanesque renovated buildings surrounding the market square. A water fountain (Wasserkunst), an elaborate wrought iron work imported from Holland was another notable structure found in the square. We left the market square to see brick-gothic style churches that escaped damage during the WWII like the St. George Church, or heavily damaged, reconstructed and still undergoing reconstruction like the church of St. Nicholas. The high tower church of St. Mary’s, a remainder of the original brick Gothic structure, dominated the city’s skyline. Our walking tour ended at another historical site or perhaps the highlight of the walking tour for some people in the group - the more than a century old beer house, Brauhaus am Lohberg - where we stopped for lunch of pretzels and different kinds of

Come drink a Bit burger and eat a delicious wiener schnitzel in Germany! Germany is just slightly smaller than the state of Montana in the United States. In addition, Germany is located in central Europe and borders the North Sea and Baltic Sea in the Netherlands and, Poland. The culture built around Germany has a foundation of Art, Literature, Sports, Food, and Music. In addition, Germany’s torn past over war of its modern day is very different form our own, but is very similar in many other ways. However to truly understand the unique culture of Germany, one must know the origin of the unique Art’s, Literature, Sports, Food and, Music, that Germany is known for.