Busted by the Swiss police
Back in the States, little Red, our trusty VW Passat, pretty much drove itself to the airport. It’s transported too many people to and from Denver International Airport to count. […]
Cultural Reflections
Not all French people are foodies
France has got to be one of the most romanticized countries on the planet. Foreigners picture men wearing berets kissing kids in knee-high socks as they cycle together to the […]
This gift of diversity
How desperately, do I want to teach our kids to be lovers of this world. Interesting then, when it actually came to inviting the so-called ‘world’ into our home (without us […]
God Bless America.
The first Fourth of July I experienced as an Adult Third Culture Kid was in 2008. We went to some highly political parade in the middle of the country. We […]
Introducing Mandarin
Ayo’s first introduction to Mandarin was uneventful. I didn’t take him to some toddler class. Oh no, it wasn’t that glamorous. I have come to realize that the best language […]
Constant acts of kindness
I find that the mundane often meets the extraordinary these days. Date: Friday, March 7, 2014 Time: 11:30am [Read: soon to be collective meltdown time for kiddos.] Place: Our little neighborhood […]
The iconic American cookie
I was driving the hubs to the airport the other day when I noticed this hotel shuttle with a gargantuan chocolate chip cookie on the side… The branding person inside […]
This just happened…
Hi there, We just returned home by airplane and our tube of SunnyBaby SPF 30 squeezed out into our suitcase. I am wondering how best to wash the lotion out […]
When less is more…
Last week, I returned our ill-functioning blender we had bought over two years ago. Tall Mountain put it on my “to do list” and I shuddered thinking of the battle […]
Pico Iyer: Where is home? (TED Talk)
I posted this beautiful TED talk by Third Culture Kid author Pico Iyer to my Facebook wall the other day, but I am not sure the fast pace of social […]
French vs. American Butchery
After visiting the farm and pouring over the details (quality of beef, cost, transportation etc), we finally decided to purchase a whole cow with three other families. One of the […]
After Boston…
I shudder when hearing news about someone intentionally trying to inflict harm, breed fear and to snuff out life. Who wouldn’t? How sick in the mind do you have to […]
Rwandan colored spectacles
Have you ever thought about how strange your life looks behind a different cultural shade of our world’s glasses? Today, my Rwandan mama friend came over for a spontaneous playdate, […]
新年快乐
Happy Chinese New Year! We had such a blast celebrating Ayo’s first Chinese New Year at church. It was a bilingual Mandarin/English service with music, dance, short preaching, kids performance, […]
A woman’s world?
Our African friends just gave birth to a precious baby girl. This was their first birth in the United States, so it felt natural to ask about how this experience […]
Copywriting fun.
Great advertising combined with playful copywriting gets my creative juices flowing. Does it yours? It brings me back to the fun side of my advertising days. When copy is done […]
Living in the tension
Well, on Monday, we flew over to Europe again. I had to remind myself what was in our suitcases as I pictured them still having the contents of our last […]
American dental skepticism
It all started as an innocent visit to the dentist for a cleaning and check-up late August. We brought Ayo to the dentist in his car seat and meticulously coordinated […]
你会想到什么？
So, I finally got around to reading Ayo the Chinese children’s book entitled 你会想到什么？with the awkward English translation: “What would you imagine?”. We borrowed it from the library the other […]
TCK goes to hoity toity hair salon
I got my hair cut on Saturday. I don’t cut it that often so it was a rare treat. It’s even more of a treat now that getting a haircut […]
Breast is Best!
If there is anywhere that you’d imagine would be breast-feeding friendly, it would be Europe, right? Well, after meeting the husband of the chick who brought La Leche League to […]
Une journée en France*
Following yesterday’s long travel day, we bathed Ayo in his borrowed blow-up duck bath and then we all went to sleep fairly early. We cocked open the windows to enjoy […]
TCK and Pregnant
When I returned to my passport culture a few years back, I was forced to face my webbed closet of pent up prejudices and questions surrounding both my identity and […]