Away At Home

It happened not once, but twice, which is when I knew there was a pattern. The first time was when I picked up my daughters and my nephews from their summer camp. My nephews, who look much like my daughters, came bouncing out followed by the only two Asian girls in the class. When I asked again for my daughters, the teacher apologized and sent out the correct children. The second time I intended to pick up my nephew and the teacher (a different teacher at a different school) sent out (surprise!) the one Asian girl in the class. For full disclosure, I am half Korean. My children are one quarter Korean and a mix of a range of other things. The true definition of mixed race children. “Is this racism?” I asked myself. Not exactly. There is nothing unreasonable about assuming that a sort of Asian looking mother would have Asian looking kids, rather than Caucasian looking ones. That’s just genetics.

But it really pointed out to me that, despite the fact that I was born and raised in the United States, we all have a little bit of foreigner in us. As a Foreign Service family, spending the majority of our time in various countries overseas, that foreign characteristic is especially pronounced. We have come to Colorado where I am taking a leave of absence from a demanding career to be home with my three young children in order to give the family a sense of roots, of belonging. Therein lies another aspect of foreignness. I have spent years as a working mother, always in the act of balancing “work” with “life.” Now my mission is entirely different. What does it mean when they are not balanced, but rather one and the same?

So I am starting this blog not as a diary or as a DIY or as a lifestyle space, but rather as a space where I can explore what it means to be a foreigner doing a foreign job in my own country, raising children in a place that seems familiar, but where all the rules have changed. Who and what is middle America? What do I represent when I am overseas? What are the challenges we face as we raise children, prepare for the future, and attempt to leave to world a better place than we found it?