From Diplomat to Activist

Hello Everyone,

I would firstly like to express my gratitude to this Community, as it gives me great relief to find you. I originally opened this account to post pictures of my dog which seem to be enjoyed in other locations online. Upon reading the Guidelines and looking around however, I feel it would be wise to leave a 'real' introduction on my profile.

I want to let you know that was born into servicing the German Foreign Office, living in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia. I am also half Arab. My father had served in Africa for a while before meeting my mother in the Levant. After I was born, we also continued moving around the Middle East but I've also lived in the States and Europe. I am aware that my kind of upbringing is more commonly referred to as 'third culture' but that's just a byproduct of something somewhat more sinister in my case. I was fortunate enough to meet other third culture kids but most were not under diplomatic immunity.

Let me also mention that I studied Political Science at one of the 'better' Universities in the UK, with hopes of becoming a diplomat myself. I was always intrigued by Foreign offices and ministries. 'Ours' seemed so nice, we got everything we needed, why not share it with those around us? I remember my mother handing the rubbish men plastic plates with some of our lunch and we often hosted various dinners and so on, so why not become what my father is (or more) and just do more of what my mother is doing with my own family. Done. Didn't really work out that way unfortunately.

As far as I am aware, I am under no obligation to withhold my identity, nor the experiences I've had. I know that my father had contributed to what seemed to be a book or diary of sorts, but the last time I asked about it, he told me it had to be deleted because of contractual obligations. I digress.

It's been about 3 and a half years since I walked out of the Foreign Office Headquarters in Berlin, heartbroken by the fact that the whole spiel is nothing but a scam. I already knew that at university, when our endless circle-jerking of political theory never led to any conclusions about peace in the middle-east. Despite being basically ridiculed for my attitude, I still had hope in the foreign office. After visiting dear friends in Berlin who were kind enough to host me while I was in the application process for diplomat school, I couldn't deny the weird vibes in this institution.

I am still processing everything. I decided to become a teacher instead and to cut a long story short, two educational institutions later I feel like I have been forced into opening my own training center / language school, which I've been working on for the last three months, in a little gem of a country in the Balkans called Albania.

More on everything another time. It has been a pleasure to write and I extend my appreciation to everyone in this community once again and hope you enjoy my content.

Steve