Conner is one of our TCKs (Third Culture Kids) who lives on the Silk Road. Sometimes we forget that our kids have their boots on the ground as well. You’ll enjoy hearing from Conner’s perspective today. 

My mom likes to get up early in the mornings to go for a run. I really like to exercise and I decided that I would join her one morning. As we were running, there was a group of boys playing soccer in the street that started pointing and laughing at me. Sometimes it’s hard to live here and be different. Sometimes I just want to blend in. The local kids often perceive me as a rich American boy…and that’s not who I am. Sometimes I wonder if life in America would be easier. If I would feel like I belong. Or maybe, kids would be mean there, too.  

As we kept running, my mom reminded me that these boys don’t have moms that spend time with them. They don’t know what it would be like to be able to run with their mom and talk about life with her. They don’t know the joy of love and friendship in family. All they know is that their moms always tell them to go outside and stay there. Their moms hit them and shame them and don’t love them well. And then we talked about how it felt when the boys laughed at me.   

My mom asked me if I wanted to pass by them again on our run and show them what love looks like.   

So we did. We ran by them again, but this time I started talking to them. They didn’t laugh. They greeted me and watched me as we ran on.   

A week later some neighborhood boys knocked on our gate and asked if I could come play soccer with them. It wasn’t the group of boys who had laughed at me a week earlier, but I had a great time playing soccer with new friends. See, some days here are hard. But there are many more good days. I love my country.