In my working life, I'm also an elementary school teacher. We are an expat family working at an international school in Budapest, Hungary.
Our kids are bilingual 'third-culture kids', meaning that they have lived all their lives in countries that they are not 'from', even if they were born there. And they have never lived in the countries of their citizenships or passports. This puts them in a unique cultural 'bubble' of sorts, not quite fully part of any culture. Third-culture kids are a cultural group of their own. Our family of four was born in three different countries, and none of us were born in the country that we are supposedly from and is our official 'home of record'. Our older daughter is just beginning to notice this and to establish her cultural identity. Although our expat life is a bit culturally and linguistically complicated at times, we wouldn't trade it for anything - the benefits of multilingualism, the travel opportunities, and the cultural experiences our children are getting are worth every moment of inconvenience 10 times over!
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Great Blog Jane - your little peas are just perfect! Great blog design too. :)
ReplyDeleteI love it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ladies! Cherry, I love yours too, I check it often. You take the most beautiful pictures, makes me want to get married again (to the same man, of course!) just to have you do the photos!
ReplyDeleteMama Pea Pod, we too are expats living over seas!! First Norway, now China and we are about to move to Canada!!
ReplyDeleteWhere are you guys at? Looks like Scandinavia!
@Sarah, we are in Hungary right now. Canada is a nice place to live, we've lived there. I'm sure you'll like it there. Good luck with your move!
ReplyDeleteHi, I tried to email you but I couldn't through the contact me button.
ReplyDeleteKaro syrup is just a name brand, it's corn syrup.
And Dawn is just what I had on hand. I didn't know Dawn was the best for bubble blowing. I will keep that brand. I actually ran out of Dawn during the process, so what is mixed in is a generic brand (one batch).I will edit my post with corn syrup instead. I just bought a store brand, so I won't be using Karo next time. It says light corn syrup on the bottle. It was a larger bottle and cheaper.:)
Lori
I have to laugh about the Karo/corn syrup- I've never thought about it before, but being from the South - we say "Karo syrup" like we say "coke" - but, it could be just about any brand of corn syrup or soda. Definately gonna try this recipe for bubbles- I have one little guy that goes through A LOT of bubbles!!
ReplyDeleteKelli - lol! I was recently having this conversation with a friend from the US who was saying the same thing. Do you also say 'Kleenex' for 'tissues'? Maybe it's an American thing? I can't wait to try the bubbles either - haven't found Dawn here yet, but will definitely do it when we visit the Grandparents in Canada this summer!
ReplyDeleteOh! Now I never knew that there was a term for "us"... I am a "third culture child too"... born in country a), raised and living in b) and "officially" form country c).... my kids have it a little easier as they have their father's nationality.
ReplyDeleteMaggy
I just came across your blog via Frugal Family Fun and the Creative Christmas Countdown. I guess I just wanted to say hi to a fellow expat in Hungary! I am a Canadian living in Szeged, with my 3 kids (5, almost 4 and 8mo) and husband. How long have you been in Bp? It is a great city, but I honestly like living in the "countryside", where things are slower and (maybe) a bit friendlier!
ReplyDeleteJen
Just came across your blog via Pinterest - lots of lovely ideas. Will be checking in regularly :-) I'm a fellow 'third culture child' too (also didn't know there was a term for us!) - born in Holland of Scottish parents, raised in Switzerland and now living in Scotland as an adult as a 'fake' Scot! Reading about your country-hopping life amongst expats make me yearn to head for pastures new :-) Gillian
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware there was a term as third culture.I am Turkish but I was born in Germany,moved to home when 7 years old and for the last ten years I have been living abroad again (now in UK).
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