In a renewed attempt at integrating into German society, today I have finally abandoned another one of those sure-fired signs that was always giving me away as an American.
Have I stopped eating french-fries with my fingers? Well, yes (in public at least), but that isn’t it.
No, what I have done is much more significant: I have chosen to renounce a particular thing that is such a fashion faux-pas that practically anywhere in Europe it will scream to any observant eye that you are an American.
This blunder is something that I was aware of even before I moved to Germany, but at the same time something so ingrained in my psyche that even though I have tried in the past to refrain from purchasing this particular object, I just couldn’t do it.
However, today when I went in search of this particular item once again, I made a concentrated effort to make sure that I did not choose that which would doom me repeat the mistakes of the past… Today when I went shopping, for the first time since my childhood, I did not buy a WHITE pair of tennis shoes (aka sneakers, trainers, etc.)!
Yes, I know: Since I knew that it was such a fashion no-no it really shouldn’t have taken me four years to buy a pair of tennis shoes that wasn’t white, but I had my reasons.
The first pair of tennies that I bought in Germany weren’t completely white: They had colorful side designs and I decided that counted. However, I knew even as I bought them that they stood out. But being that I am not a complete fashion slave and I liked them, I went ahead and bought them anyway.
About a year and a half later I was in need of a new pair of sneakers and at that point when I went shopping I obediently looked at lots of shoes that were anything but white. However, in the end, the pair that I purchased were once again white (with shiny silver stripes).
Even though I knew that white sneakers would point out my American ways, I couldn’t resist buying them. When I looked at red, purple, or green shoes the only thing I could think of was what the red pair would look like if I wore a pink T-shirt or what the green ones with yellow stripes would look like if I decided to wear lavender socks. My reasoning was even though white was “American” at least they would go with anything that I might decide to wear.
This time around however, not only did I almost completely ignore white, I also decided to skip the screaming red, purple, and green tennis shoes. I focused on ones a bit more neutral in color such as brown, black, or even navy. And this new strategy produced results: I am now the proud owner of an attractive pair of navy tennis shoes. (Adidas, if you must know.)
So now, based solely on my new sneakers, you can just go ahead and hand me honorary European citizenship, because you can no longer pick this American out of a crowd based on her goofy bright white Nikes.