Gosh June, I don’t know who you hang with in Germany (notoriously Teutonic). But I have many European friends; UK, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain… and even a few Germans. They are certainly not as ice cold as your German friends apparently are. They are warm hearted, fun loving, happy and generous with their “connections”. In any case, I’m happy to be part of the Americans that you describe. Life is too short to live it behind a barrier to those around us; even if it’s small talk in the super market line.