Hmmm.. I grew up in Texas. I have Irish in my blood, as well as Czech, and I suppose my parents were pretty shit at traditions. My mom loves holidays and we always did some stuff (typical American things)... It wasn't until my grandma came to live with us that my mom felt peer pressured into doing more czech-y things. Honestly, I dont even know if we are Czech republic or Slovak side.. it was all one country back in the day.
I hear rumors from my family that Transylvanian mountains are somewhere in our history. My last name is English in origin, so somewhere that came about from my father's side. My mom married into it, her maiden last name is very Eastern european sounding.
Has it influenced me as a person? Not really. I do sometimes get a little prideful that I am redheaded, and Irish pride... while it definitely makes me feel slightly better about being as good in the sun as an ice cube and historically the Irish got a lot of shit.. they jumped quick on the racism band wagon and irish pride can frequently translate as racist-as-fuck in America now. It's a pretty well known stereotype. Also, I seem to handle my alcohol better than those around me, though I don't drink really. Basically, I'm American, proud to be from Texas with all of it's follies, and outside of that not much has influenced me. I didn't grow up czech or irish or anything like that. I can't really claim those realms.
Outside of the stereotypes for USA (4th of july fireworks, turkey at thanksgiving, ham during christmas, presents on birthdays, etc.etc.)...
- Texas and a few other southern states eat Kolaches. It's a czech food. It's the best thing for breakfast. Texas and Louisiana in particular have adapted the recipe to include boudain, a typical thing to eat in eastern texas and Louisiana.. Kolaches = basically a pig in a blanket... a savory something (ham and cheese or sausage typically, texas adds a lot of jalapenos) wrapped in a fluffy, slightly sweet bread (think hawaiian brand bread for the sweetness factor.. just slightly less than that) and they're big.. usually at least the size of your palm, if not your hand. It's a breakfast to go. And no donut shop in the states that do this would survive without Kolaches being offered. It's like... a give-in that you go eat donuts AND kolaches. Boudain is a particular kind of sausage with rice in it.. a sort of meal-to-go in and of itself. It makes my favorite kolache paired with jalapenos.
- Houston Texas is pretty diverse actually. It still has a sticker shock to me to go to places so... monochromatic in nature. I'm used to having a whole chinatown a stone's throw away from an entire block of nothing but native Mexicans with little shops and cantinas/taquerias. I'm used to having a school where it's pretty normal to be both white and the minority. I'm very happy to have grown up in a diverse city with a lot of cultures and opportunities to learn at my fingertips.
- America in general is still, to me, the land of opportunity. I think this shaped me more than anything else in my life honestly. I had the opportunity to be as ambitious as I wanted to be, and do whatever I want with my life. Especially going to China for a day, and Japan for 2 weeks, it's still a bit shocking to think there's a "big deal" about a woman having a kid and continuing to work and not quitting everything she's doing for her kids. While this is still a thing in America to some extent, it's generally pretty normal to see parents both working. In a world like Japan where there's a right way to do everything, I don't know how I would have turned out as a person or a woman for that matter growing up there vs here. (Edit: I'm picking on Japan because I was just there and it's fresh on my mind, and also because I have a dear affection for the country as a baseline. I'm glad to be born American either way.)
- Texas has a surprisingly low cost of living and some pretty good education if you don't just stop at what lame book writers want you to read.