Here There and Everywhere

Stranger in a Strange Land: High School

Today’s writing prompt is irresistible: Something you learned in High School.

I left my US High School mid-year to live in Germany, and to go to a US Department of Defense High School.

I learned that not everyone thinks the same way I think.

I learned that sometimes the way I think might even be wrong, or incomplete.

I learned that even within our own culture, there may be varieties of cultures and many different ways to do a thing, and that none is truly the “right” way, that there may be many right ways.

I learned to lean back and observe, before I ventured an opinion.

I learned to listen when someone said I was wrong. I didn’t have to agree, but it helped to get this other perspective (no matter how mistaken it might have been, LOL)

After high school, I lived a nomadic life, back and forth to university, then marrying a military man and being on the move for the next forty years. Some of my best friends to this day are friends I made during those high school years, people who have led very different lives, but who still share so much in common because of our uncommon heritage and our diverse views. Learning that kind of flexibility eased the way in later life, living in different cultures in Germany, in Africa and in the Middle East and finally, in the Deep South. I’m still learning! 🙏😄🙏

April 11, 2026 Posted by intlxpatr | Aging, Alaska, Biography, Civility, Community, Cross Cultural, ExPat Life, Friends & Friendship, Germany, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Middle East, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Stranger in a Strange Land, Tunisia | Third Culture Kids | Leave a comment