I, on the other hand, could travel to almost any country easily, since having an American passport often exempts me from visa requirements (look here if you’re curious about where Americans can travel visa-free!).
This demonstrates the idea of privilege, which is an advantage that’s given to a particular group and doesn’t have to be earned. US citizens have so much travel freedom compared to citizens of other countries, and being a native speaker of English means that people will usually try to match your language instead of you having to learn theirs. But I didn’t do anything to earn this privilege: I was just born into it. Most Americans don’t actively realize how lucky they are, and I didn’t either before I arrived here. This is one of the key lessons that came out of my conversations with people from different backgrounds, and I will continue thinking about it once I’m back in the US as well as on future trips abroad.
So that’s all from me, folks! I hope you enjoyed coming along on my journey and hearing my reflections on how I’ve grown these past few months. Thank you so much for reading, and I think it’s most appropriate here to say Auf Wiedersehen ("goodbye", but literally translates to “until we see each other again”).
