So this last weekend I met three youngsters, as my dad would call them, two 13 year olds and one 11 year old. All three were spending their summer in Beijing living with a Chinese family and studying Chinese. They were American and they lived in Singapore. They went to an American school there and their parents were diplomats. One of the youngsters' parent used to be the ambassador to Honk Kong. They were very smart. Very mature. Two of them were already learning their third language. One of them had an older sister who spoke four languages at the age of 22-French, Mandarin Chinese, English, and Arabic. They were nice and cool and polite and I was extremely jealous.
Why weren't my parents diplomats who spent thousands of dollars for me to spend my summer mastering difficult languages before I hit puberty? Why didn't my parents raise me in varous South East Asian countries where I could learn to list my favorite steamed bun or curry dish at the age of 11? Why didn't my parents teach me how to disuss the delicate politics of the Taiwan/China issue before I ever had my first kiss? I felt like I was really behind and like there was no way I could catch up or compete with children raised in these kinds of environements. I took a look at myself and instead of seeing the girl raised in a middle class house in the suburbs with loving parents who taught me respectful values, I felt like a minority kid from the ghetto who never knew her dad and did drugs at the age of seven for the first time compared to these kids.
I tried to quell my jealousy and sense of injustice by telling myself these youngsters would never appreciate what they had. They probably would not even want to travel when they hit the age of 20. They probably would live in a suburb themselves and become business people and spend their money on vacations to Cancun. Right? The answer is probably not and I knew that deep in my heart. I don't really have a point with this by here is my question-what do you think about this?? Tell me your thoughts.
"business people" - a fate worse than death!
oh yea, no offense Greg
Speaking as a diplomat's child, I have to tell you; we do appreciate how lucky we are. As much as we gripe about how hard it is to move around, how hard it is to adjust and how homesick we are (then again the word 'home' has lost all meaning); we entirely understand how lucky we truly are.
It is a wonderful and interesting experience. I seen so much and the world feels so open to me. I have been to many different countries and learned different languages. While American children were trying to deal with puberty, I was trying to adjust to an entirely different culture.It may just be my experience, but I do feel that diplomat's children are more mature than kids their age back home. They understand more about the world around them and they learn quickly how to adapt. Though there are those awkward ones for instance when I was younger, I could more easily talk to adults about current events than I could to kids my own age about cartoons.But that's just me.
And you are right, most of us are planning to travel. It almost seems like a cycle, because often diplomats tend to have parents who were diplomat's themselves.
I am the child of a diplomat and I can tell you, me and my siblings most definately appreciate how we live and that not many people get opportunities such as the ones we have. Seeing the world makes us appreciate it more.. coming from a wealthy western family, visiting places lilke India and poorer Asian countries really has put things in perspective for me.
There are so many advantages to this lifestyle. Meeting amazing people, doing things I otherwise wouldn't have.
But what alot of people don't realise is that there are many many disadvantages. The feeling of always being unstable "We're here for two years, where next? Home? Europe? America?" No matter how much you want to enjoy the moment that thought can be distressing.
And losing all the people you meet and love. We all say 'keep in touch' but how hard is that? A quick "Heyy" on Facebook is not keeping in touch. It makes me so sad thinking about all the people I've left, what life would be like if I could still be with them.
So honestly.. I understand where you're coming from. But there are some huge downsides to having parents who are diplomats.
I know one day I'll appreciate it alot more.
I'm 31 years old now and was the 'child' of a diplomat. I have to say that I still encounter some issues now after all the traveling that we went though. There are two things that are very difficult. Firstly your sense of identity. The simple question of 'where are you from' can take an hour to reply to. I was born in one place but lived here, there, and there. There are so many countries I can support when it comes to things like sport. I also grew up speaking 4 different accents and was very patriotic of each place by the time I left for the next! In a sense you wish sometimes that you were just born in once place and lived there and that's that. It would make things so much easier. But I think I would have preferred to grow up living abroad. Or would I? I did not have the choice. So how can I know if I would have preferred to have just lived in one place and grow up with the same people? Which brings me to my second point. A lot of people where I live now have friends that they have known since they were kids. I don't have that as I was always saying goodbye to them and moving on. So that can be difficult. I'm not sure about other diplomatic children, but I did develop a close bond with my siblings. Probably because we would move to another country and the only friends we had were each other.
I was just doing an application to my masters course, and my personal statement needed touching up, so I thought I'd look up diplomatic children to see what I might have missed out on.
Its been very interesting reading all this. I can relate to the fellow diplomats here. I can't relate to the others but what i can say to both is the grass is always greener on the other side (unless you choose not to have green grass).
The upsides of being a diplomat might be high, but the downsides are truly ruthless and cold hearted. I have no home, I have no childhood friends, no siblings and my parents are older now. I'm 22 and the only thing that justifies my life is moving around. doing my degree I've stayed in the same place for over 3 years for the first time in my life. I've decided to stay one more. but after my masters degree there is no doubt im heading straight for the foreign office to do the same all over again and i cant wait.
thats why i can tell you, the biggest downside is you become very cold hearted. I've said goobbye and cried so many times, that i might as well accept it when it happens and just move on. noone can relate to that because i was truly alone at the new school in a new country with no siblings and no friends. I am a master at making friends now and a master of seeing them go. I can spend time with myself better than anyone i know. i cant help it and thats just the way it is. alot of people get upset that i dont stay in touch. but i will never see them again so i get over that just as easily.
what i can say is, the world is funny. the less you want people the more they want you.
I'm 14 and i was just told that we're going on a posting again. of my family i've probably been the most resistant to the diplomat family's lifestyle. Although I enjoy the cultures I've been exposed to and the great experiences I get at my International schools there is one thing that always bothers me. The uncertainty. You're always sitting there waiting for something to come up. I've been back in Canada after two posting for the past 4 years. I've finally gotten used to the lifestyle here just as I'm about t o be whisked away to another foreign country. I think that's what all diplomat kid's are bothered by. On the other had though, I get antsy after not being abroad for more than a year so there's always a give and take for everything.
And then there's the big deal in the Canadian school's about my ravel. 'ohhh that's the kid that lived in Africa'. yea i wasn't living on the moon okay... i'm a human being too
Unlike my parent's I don't think I would devote my life to traveling abroad but I certainly plan on spending a portion of my life to continue exploring the places I've been to.
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