I am going to close my series of posts about stories of me living on military bases. I just want to explore other subjects before the end of the semester. What those subjects are going to be, I haven't quite figured out yet.
My life as a military brat has definitely had an impact on what kind of person I turned out to be. When I attended my daughters' high school graduations it made me think what it would have been like to be in school at the same place and with the same group of people. How would I be different? There is no way to really know for sure. To be clear, I don't say that with regret. I just say that with a sense of curiosity.
I learned a lot about people living in different parts of the world and the United States. Most of what I learned is good, but not all of it. One of the most amazing learning experiences I had was how very different people are within the United States itself. Living in St. Louis is completely unlike living in Los Angeles. Americans living in the North compared to the South, for example. The United States has such varied cultural and regional diversity. There are places in the U.S. that I have lived that I would have sworn I was in another country.
I also learned that Americans are too isolated from the rest of the world. When I lived in Spain the people that lived there were not afraid to embrace and share their lives with you. Most American would not be comfortable sharing their lives with people from other countries. I don't think we are mean and unfriendly; I think we tend to fear what we don't know. That fear influences how we treat others and it isn't one of our best qualities. My comments are not meant to unfairly judge Americans. I just wish we played a larger role in the world community. Please just think about it.
Thanks for your indulgence. Good bye for now.
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