My "Asian" hair's killing me!

Hi everyone, i'm an 18 year old Asian-American male. Well i woke up this morning, looked in the mirror and saw the same old thing - a 1-1.5 inch bushy round ball. My hair is soft, rigid, and stays upright most of the time. When my hair isn't geled, it looks like a bush.

I've used gel for aout 6-7 years now, and i am quite frankly, getting tired of it. I am the typical Asian-American male with black "spikes," going straight up and lacking in any type of style. I dont know how hair mechanics work, but i would like to get a different effect- one that doesn't require a pound of gel. I recently cut my hair short (1 inch) so i could start over. What i'd like to know is what i need to do in order to look something more caucasion (i guess?) I dont know why, but i think they seem to use moose or something to make thier hair look more naturally held. Whenever i gel my hair, it's rock solid, and doesn't have any freeness to it. I'd still like to gel my hair, but i'd like to make it look like it's styled more naturally. I dont know if any of you quite know what i mean, so i will try to clarify as the replies come.

Thanks in advance for any assistance