Culture shock for expat kids
He was born here, lived his first two-and-a-half years here, and has made several rather lengthy trips back to the US between then and now. His parents are American, his home-life is American, and yet, there are still American things that need to be explained to Myles when we come home. At the Newark Airport, for instance, he wanted to know what Dunkin Donuts made. As I explained donuts to him, trying not to drool, he said, "Do they sometimes have sprinkles on them? I think I may have seen them before."
A week later, over Chinese take-out at my sister's house, he asked about fortune cookies. What other American restaurants had them, he wanted to know.
Yesterday, I told him that we needed to go to the bank before we ran our other errands. He was mid-protest when I pulled the car into the ATM lane at the drive-thru bank. He was amazed, saying, "You mean we don't get out of the car? We just drive up to the bank? And STAY IN THE CAR?"
I've said it before, but it feels like I'm living with Cousin Balki.
A week later, over Chinese take-out at my sister's house, he asked about fortune cookies. What other American restaurants had them, he wanted to know.
Yesterday, I told him that we needed to go to the bank before we ran our other errands. He was mid-protest when I pulled the car into the ATM lane at the drive-thru bank. He was amazed, saying, "You mean we don't get out of the car? We just drive up to the bank? And STAY IN THE CAR?"
I've said it before, but it feels like I'm living with Cousin Balki.
Comments
Loved this post! We don't have quite the culture shock that you do, but I do have three kids who have lived longer in the UK than they have in the US. On one recent trip home, my 5yo told every grocery clerk, waiter and waitress that he was American. The responses were comical...most people were mystified, but polite..."Really, me too." they often said. One lady in the parking lot assured him that her dog was American too.
Things like California weather, people who bag your groceries, pancakes, are all reasons for wonder and amazement!
The reality of how far away family is seems to sink in slowly though. Recently I overheard my 5yo tell my 3yo that Glasgow was different from America because America has "Michelle, Megan and Sarah" (their cousins)
We are an expat family living in Europe. We've been here for two years now. (We moved when the kids were 4,2,2, and 5 months). We were here for 18 months before we went back to the US for a visit for the first time. The kids were really in shock. The first thing they were amazed by was the toilets in the airport in the US. "Why is it filled with SO much water!?" they wondered. :)
Then, we took them to the Mall of America in Minneapolis. It was honestly too much for them. They just couldn't take in the constant barrage of lights and sounds and overstimulation combined with a heaping dose of commericialism that they just don't get here. Despite the lure of the rides in the theme park, they actually asked if we could just go home.
We will probably come home sometime this year and it will be an adjustment for all of us!
Good luck!
Michaela just had the same exact reaction to fortune cookies. I had to go on and on explaining them to her and she had such a hard time seeing how they were Chinese in any way because she had never seen them in China.