A lot of the traditions are oldschool and you'd look very odd in the cities.
You can get by in the country, but I honestly can't think of a way to be "German".
I guess it comes naturally to me.
I'm fluid in English and have a minimal accent, I know slang and whatnot but I don't feel American.
I would feel German in America and would most likely go to some Texas German part, or something.
I know it's a dangerous "area of argumentation" to talk about "growing up" there, because it could give some legitimacy to kebabs and stuff (which I deny, you can usually pick them up very easily), but I can't think of a magical way to be German.
You could use lawn gnomes, have a dachshund, listen to volksmusik, etc, and come close to being culturally German.
Hell, you'd be more German than many urban Germans that way,
But, I don't know.
Maybe it will work. Maybe eating Bratwurst and Sauerkraut, Rotkohl and co will instill the mindset.
Try it.
I have to admit it's easy to fall into the "Why?" question because I think about it from my position, and I have Germans all around me.
So if I think about someone coming all the way from the States to be German then the exoticness, so to speak, goes down.
But now when I'm thinking about it from an American perspective then I can see the merit in even faking it, it might actually work, now that I am really giving it some thought.
So yeah. I know some people made good money with food carts, selling Bratwurst and co, and even something shallow like that was enough for people to "feel it", too.