I was born and raised in Germany and used to feel similar. I’ve been living in the US for over a decade now, and somehow I still feel that way, so I’m starting to think it’s more of a me problem.

There are definitely advantages to living here, but also many drawbacks. The sense of freedom is definitely real, people here are generally far less judgemental than in Germany, unless perhaps you’re way out in the countryside. As long as you’re not going out of your way to piss people off, they’ll generally let you be as weird as you want.

The downside is that compared to Germany, life can feel pretty chaotic and unorganized at times. A lot of things you might take for granted over there simply don’t work the same way here. People are rarely on time and might cancel plans at the last minute for spurious reasons, and instead of being direct and upfront about what’s bothering them, they’ll be vague and indirect.

Also, food and rent are far more expensive than in Germany, and the quality is often worse, unless you’re willing to spend extra money. On the plus side, taxes are lower, and if you have a marketable skill set, you can definitely earn far more than you would in Germany (but you’ll be spending most of it in order to have a comparable lifestyle).

Overall, living here requires a lot of discipline and self-reliance. No one’s gonna tell you what to do, and there are fewer guardrails in place to keep you from going off the rails. It’s a high risk, high reward society.