Culbert Report

Our Third Culture Kids, while Americans, don't share in the traditional American experience.  They're not really Russian either.  Just ask them a simple question in Russian and you'll see that as displaced as they are from American culture, they are somehow even further removed from Russian.  They are some kind of mix, a breed of their own, I guess.  And as they get older, so do the tensions between cultures intensify and the lack of a sense of belonging increases.   For example, our TCKs don't really celebrate Halloween.  I know a lot of kids who don't celebrate Halloween, so this isn't particularly remarkable; but our kids don't celebrate out of principle, they don't celebrate because nobody really does here either, they don't even know what it is.  Besides, where could I get costume supplies?  What would I do with a pile of Russian candies that nobody in our home really likes?  How many years in a row can I wear my Starbucks apron an...

It's true what they say, the days are long, the years are short.   Nearly a month has gone by since my last blog entry and I find myself in the same predicament I always seem to be in:  what do I write about? On one hand, it seems like nothing has changed, nothing has happened. On the other, each day is so full of the delightful little things that make one special moment overlap with the next until you look back and realize one week has flown by. Like Anna mimicking our stinters' slang, "tasty taste, Mommy, hashtag super delicious!"   Like Peter waving "hi" and exploding into giggles when we wave "hi" back. Like Anna doing a little dance which makes us think, "well at least I now know what I look like when I dance." We're so thankful for the little things.  Day to day, week to week, month to month, our lives are just packed with everything and nothing, all at the same time.