Being a military child has changed my perspective on almost everything I thought I knew. When I was nine years old, my family and I moved to Japan to begin one of the most important chapters of our lives. Because of this drastic change in my life, I have been apart of two remarkably different cultures which have shaped me into the person I am today. By living in Japan for almost half of my life, I have been exposed to many things that children who grew up in America would never experience.
When I was younger, I believed that my family would always live down the street and would be there for me when I needed it. But as I grew up and started realizing that I didn't live a normal life, I began to understand the meaning of family. I only see my family once every two years. And even when we fly to the States we do not see my entire family because they are so spread out across the US, with some living in Michigan and others living in Texas. Once I grew older, I learned that family didn't just mean blood, a family is the relationships that you develop with others that you meet along the way in life. Throughout my time here in
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I now know that this isn't true. Many people talk about how they only lived in one house while growing up. Those people are incredibly fortunate to be able to say that. That isn't the case for me. The longest that I have stayed in the same house if four years. Because the average length for a military family to live in the same area is around two to three years. I was fortunate to live in the same area for four years. I have lived almost half of my life here in Japan. And I know that it will be tough for me to leave the culture, the people, the experiences, and the food behind. Japan has become my home, and I hope that one day I will be able to return and continue to make new memories and influence others as people have influenced