Studying abroad in Berlin has given me a new way of looking at my national and cultural identity. Cultural identity has been a big topic for me in college. Berlin has a unique history of how people identify with their own country, and studying abroad in this city has encouraged me to further think about my nationality and the factors that contribute to “belonging” to a certain country.
My first big move was two and a half years ago, moving from my hometown Tokyo Japan, to attend Lewis & Clark. Growing up in Japan as a half caucasian, I identified myself as an American just because I looked different from my full Japanese friends. Moving to college however completely changed that perception. Now that I was surrounded by not just full Americans, but also students from all over the world, I started to realize that a person’s nationality is not as simple as a single genetic or geographical label passed down from one’s parents. Then, how do I decide that I am “American” or “Japanese”? This is definitely a question that requires considering multiple factors. There are some things that I can’t control, such as my place of birth and adolescent development, first language and accent, and ethnicity (physical appearance). To the contrary, some factors are by choice: second languages, fashion, residence, where I develop personal relationships, knowledge and beliefs. Enthusiasm, passion, amount of knowledge towards the societal norms and culture, how much you agree with the country’s tendencies and public opinion, and the degree of contribution to the country are also additional factors.
What I’ve learned in Germany is that identifying with a certain country entails completely different sets of criteria depending on the country, and the person. It’s not the same checklist for all the countries. I do not identify as German, however talking to German people about their national identity has made me realize that every country, or even every person has a different definition of why they think they identify, or belong to a certain country. For example, my host mother mentioned that she used to be hesitant to call herself as a German because her parents are not from Germany, and she thought she didn’t look German. However, that is one definition of one person. In a place like the US where ethnicity and nationality aren’t correlated, physical appearance is rarely a factor in determining one’s nationality. There is a clear difference in each country about what it means to belong to their country.
The second thing I’ve noticed is, those factors change over time. Even though my host mother thought she was not German while growing up, she now says she completely identifies as a German because she’s lived here all her life and she speaks German. Now that I think about it, there are examples everywhere in the world. Even in a homogenous country like Japan, the younger generations have a higher percentage of mixed nationality kids, and people are starting to recognize that an asian appearance is not a must-have factor in being Japanese. With the increasing quantity of people immigrating from Latin America to the US, people are starting to realize language or birthplace is not the only determinant of nationality. An extreme example of national identity and its change over time would be the Nazi propaganda. The Aryan and anti-Semitic ideologies are demolished in the modern day German society, but they were in fact prevalent in the 1930s. Even with the current immigrant crisis in Europa, I am interested in how the refugees identify themselves and how those identities may change over time due to their change in perception of nationality.
Including Berlin in the equation of solving my question has given an entirely new dimension. Even though I do not identify as German, living in Germany has given me a more complicated but conscious view of who I am and where I belong.