I was born and raised outside of Chicago, so I don't identify with traditional MN culture. I'm not Swedish, I've not eaten lye soaked fish, nor have I ever seen a moose. I had a Chicago accent which is now fading into non-descript Midwestern. I was raised Catholic, so I can recognize most biblical references in texts, but like REM, I've lost my religion.
I am a white person and my students identify me as German because of what I say when they sneeze. "Gesundheit" means "good health" and I think it is a nice sentiment. Also, I don't really like saying "bless you" because of the religious connotations. Once I was telling my students a story about a good friend of mine, a devout Jew, and one of my students interrupted me asking if I was "German, right?"
Apparently, the student thought that Germans and Jews still could not be friends because of the Nazi persecution of Jews from the 20's, 30's, 40's, and beyond. I had to explain to him that not all Germans were Nazis and not all Nazis are Germans and how there were even German Jews. This was mind blowing to him.
Because I deal with "marginalized" or "alternative" populations, I have to be transparent. My students can smell a phony from a mile away and I want to be genuine with them. In this exchange, we find mutual respect.
From Alex: I also wrote about being genuine with my students, a smaller version of your population. Being transparent and unabashedly yourself is key to success in connecting with them because they have excellent noses. It 's really interesting (and really sad) the bomb you dropped on your students about German Jews, but its a good example of example of overcoming historical differences. It's also a good story of conversation etiquette and the rudeness of interrupting someone when they are telling a story.
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