This is a pretty awesome self-awareness moment. I too felt this in my 20s when I was traveling abroad for work. I distinctly remember a couple of frustrating moments in Turkiye when I had made a mistake with the currency and the taxi driver was trying to tell me I was underpaying him, in the most patient way possible. Thankfully, both of us really were trying to understand each other and there was no anger or frustration, but he certainly had every right to be frustrated with me. We called over one of the hotel representatives who translated for me, and when I realized my mistake, I felt like such an idiot, I gave him double the fare for his patience.

I believe every American needs to travel abroad, and I'm not just talking going to Mexico or a resort and never leaving the confines of the resort. In a previous life I was married to a wonderful lady of Macedonian descent, and for reasons mostly related to my immaturity, the marriage didn't work out. But I nevertheless recall something her mother told me once. Her parents were first generation immigrants and had very heavy accents. But her mother once told me, "I may have an accent, but I also speak four languages (Romanian, Greek, Macedonian, and English), and I do not think with an accent."