Thank you, Asia "Reflection on a reflection" (39 days until Wisconsin)

2012

"My kids are entering a pool at Laguna de Boracay, our resort for our Spring Break. We're in the Philippines for a second time in two years. The kids are pretending to be dolphins. They are playing well together - for the moment. They're just like any other kids, right?

"That depends on how you look at it. Many of their classmates from Green Bay will spend all of their growing up years in one community, or one state, or at least one country. They'll grow up seeing tons of American TV and commercials and magazines, be exposed to a culture that tells them to see the world and themselves in a certain way. Friday night football will be important. And cheeseburgers. And Packers. Body image. A "good job". Money. A big screen tv.

"At this point my kids at 8 and 10 have traveled to 3 countries and lived in 2 others (or 3 depending on which kids we're talking about). They're beginning to think that rice is preferable to mashed potatoes. That black hair and dark eyes is just as common as blond hair and blue eyes. And that riding a subway and living on the 15th floor is just fine. They go to a school with students who come and go, with friends who come and go, in a country that is and isn't theirs. They're learning that education is valued differently by their classmates here than in GB."

2021

My kids live in two different countries. Adam is back in Green Bay, almost a year now of "adulting 101" under his belt. Alec is here in Hong Kong, a junior in high school with just one year remaining - a year he will complete back in Green Bay. They are just like any other kids, right?

That depends on how you look at it. Their classmates over the last decade hailed from all over the world. They shared in common the English language and an "American Style education." They share with their friends a sort of displacement (where is home, really?). Their schoolmates' families valued education and pushed for college after high school. They heard many different languages, sometimes daily. They ate different foods. Learned about world events - sometimes because they had "been there". They understand apartment living (floor 15, then 23, then 7).

At this point my kids at 19 and 17 have lived in 3 (or 4) different countries and have travelled to 15 countries. They definitely prefer rice over potatoes. To them black hair and brown eyes are common and blond hair and blue eyes are uncommon. They are far more comfortable on a subway or in a taxi than with the thought of learning to drive (neither drives yet). They have attended schools with friends that come and go (more going than coming). They have lived in countries that felt like home more than their home country. In many ways, my kids are now more Eastern than Western in their worldview.

Thank you, Asia. What opportunities my kids have had.