US citizens living abroad

CaliMex
Wed, 22 May 2019 00:38:18 +0000

I attended an international school overseas with many American citizen kids who had never actually lived in the United States for more than a few months each year.

When they came to the US for college, nearly all of them had a tough transition at first as they adjusted to the fact that although they felt American compared to their friends abroad, they had not had the typical American experiences growing up and were now surrounded by Americans who had.

Decades later, many of these former classmates have made happy lives for themselves in the US. But many others moved overseas after college, feeling more comfortable as Americans abroad than as Americans raised abroad living in the US. It is an interesting transition, to be sure, and one that affects kids differently.