Belonging

I think my life is unusual. We live in a foreign country with six children, in a city with over ten million people (Wikipedia lists our city as the second largest in the world). I wouldn’t even call it a city; it is more like a nation in one place. We live in a three bedroom apartment with two bathrooms. Finding American products is often a challenge, but thanks to my mom it’s not impossible. My children have been going to the foreign school for the last two years since we moved here. The school is a lovely place with wonderful facilities and a great support system of other expats in similar temporary circumstances. It is a private school with funding that supports the arts and extracurricular activities. The school is impressive and I like it, but it’s not “me”. A few weeks ago, when my ten year old daughter came to me and asked me if she could go to the public Korean school in our town, I listened with an open mind. This wasn’t the first time that she had mentioned it, but this is the first time I entertained the idea. As the idea grew from a seedling into a tender tree, I began to embrace the sensible, practical thought of my child going to school with those who truly belong to the Korean community; a community that I have grown to respect, and a community that I have belonged to without really belonging. As this idea took root, I was inspired by a bit of adventure. Why not let my children really “see” this country in which we have been living? What could possibly be more educational?
On January 22, I walked over to the beautiful grounds of the foreign school and with a giant leap of faith into a dark unknown, I withdrew all of my children from the school and enrolled them in the public school for one year. It is the scariest thing I have ever done. I hugged my children, all of whom had bewildered looks on their faces and through teary eyes, I said, “Let’s have an adventure!”
(highlights from our years at SFS)