Hiding One's Native Culture? - Decisions of an Immigrant

Everyone has probably heard the saying: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When I emigrated from Germany to the USA at a young age, that was one of the biggest thoughts echoing in my head. Immigrants in my homeland, who chose to dress and speak according to their original nationality, were talked about and stared at by many.

I figured that sort of treatment would be normal in any country because of human nature. It is something I sought to avoid as I had no intention of speaking my native language in my new home country, nor giving any outward sign of being an immigrant.

At the time, I was only armed with my best intentions and very little knowledge because there was no Internet yet. The perception I had gained via books and TV was skewed as it did not apply to the little town in the upper Midwest I moved to.

When you move into small town, it is easy to feel out of place, regardless of your background. At the time, however, I thought it best to raise my American-born children solely the American way, without exposing them to any of my language or culture as to spare them ridicule and to not confuse them.

Regardless, kids and other adults noticed differences. In our case, it was the “non-American” features and a slight accent. But, I have since learned that people who are not open-minded will always find the difference, instead of the similarity, and use it to try to undermine your self-esteem to bring you down to their level.

As adolescents growing into young adults, my children chose on their own to learn my native language. While they did not learn it at home, they were fortunate to be able to take the classes at school, eventually. Both now embrace the best of both worlds but are still as American as anyone else in the sense of this word.

Advances in technology have made it much easier now to connect with others like yourself when you don’t openly want to display your heritage for fear of not blending in. Regardless, how much or how little of your culture you want to display when moving to another country is a personal decision that varies for everyone. However, it is one of the toughest decisions I had to make.

This guest post comes from Alexandra Heep, a dear friend I found on Facebook. She is a freelance writer, like me, and writes about her own experiences here. Thanks so much, Alex, for sharing this!