Monday, March 26, 2007

You know your a Missionary Kid when:

In honor of Blackpurls boy (who "is wishing that [they] would be in one spot long enough for him to learn how to drive")

Here it is:

You Know You're a Missionary Kid When...

You can't answer the question, "Where are you from?"

You speak two languages, but can't spell in either.

You flew before you could walk.

The U.S. is a foreign country.

You have a passport, but no driver's license.

You have a time zone map next to your telephone.

Your life story uses the phrase "Then we went to..." five times.

You think in grams, meters, and liters.

You speak with authority on the quality of airline travel.

You go to the U.S., and get sick from a mosquito bite.

You send your family peanut butter and Kool-Aid for Christmas.

People simply don't understand.

You live at school, work in the tropics, and go home for vacation.

You don't know where home is.

Strangers say they can remember you when you were "this tall."

You have friends from or in 29 different countries.

You do your devotions in another language.

You sort your friends by continent.

You tell people where you're from, and their eyes get big.

"Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.

The nationals say, "Oh, I knew an American once..." and then ask if
you know him or her.

You are grateful for the speed and efficiency of the U.S. Postal Service.

You realize that furlough is not a vacation.

You've spoken in dozens of churches, but aren't a pastor.

The majority of your friends don't speak English as a first language.

Someone brings up the name of a team, and you get the sport wrong.

You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.

You know there is no such thing as an international language.

You know the difference between patriotism and nationalism.

You realize what a small world it is, after all.

Going to the post office is the highlight of your day.

When you sing songs to yourself in a language other than English.

When you mother gets excited over finding Doritos at 7-11.

When on deputation you have memorized Dad's messages.

You carry Bibles in two languages to church.

When you dream in a foreign language.

On your 18th birthday you still don't have a driver's license.

You send out birthday invitations in a foreign language.


When you go on furlough your Mom buys everything in the store.

When adults want to pay you to teach them English.

When you can't find shoes to fit your feet in any of the shoe stores.

When the family gathers around the computer to check the E-mail.

When all your clothes have been worn by someone else.

When your friends know more English grammar than you do but can't understand English conversation.

When you find a seven year old picture of yourself on someone's refrigerator.

When you know how to send a fax using an international call back service.

When driving on the right side of the road gives you the willies.

When the message on your answering machine is in two languages.

You tell people what certain gestures mean in different parts of the world.

You calculate exchange rates by the price of Coke.

You would rather have a Land Rover Defender than a Lexus.

You enjoy textual criticism of customs forms.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the list, especially the shoe and English grammar things.


Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/

Rhonda in Chile said...

Well, that is the story of my life! And my kid's lives!
And only another MK could possibly understand.......

Hope all is well,

Rhonda

mamashine said...

Wow. That's so very interesting. Not something that a lot of us know about. Makes it a little easier to understand.

Kate said...

Thanks so much for posting this! Kelli in the Mirror alerted me and I laughed and cried a little. It's always nice to be reminded that there are people who've been through what you have. Honestly, I wouldn't trade my years as an MK, but it's sometimes been hard not fitting in. I feel much more settled now, but I still view the mailbox like other people view their Christmas stockings. :)

Alida Sharp said...

How true this is... both of my sons can relate!

http://blackpurlsknitpickings.blogspot.com

Heather said...

Interesting info you don't think of if you weren't a missionary kid. It all sounds fascinating, though. Very cute list! :o)

Much Ado said...

Loved reading this and can relate to SO MUCH of it! I often think about how mixed up our kid is going to be, we are Irish, living in Spain and adopting from China. Also the part of Spain we live in has its own language..... :)

Enjoyed this post and nice to know we are not the only ones with this strange but wonderful "culture"!

Anna said...

How funny! I am not a MK, but have friends who were. So many things you listed I never thought about!

Anonymous said...

What a great list.

I wasn't a Missionary Kid, but my parents were abroad a lot so I could relate to some of these - I think that's why they appealed to me, despite the different reasons.

I still have trouble explaining where I'm from, and trying to settle on where home was.

Twisted Cinderella said...

This is great! I had such fun reading this.

I am not a missionary kid but having moved more than 40 times in my life, these are true for me:

- You can't answer the question, "Where are you from?"
- You flew before you could walk.
- Your life story uses the phrase "Then we went to..." five times.
- You think in grams, meters, and liters.
- You speak with authority on the quality of airline travel.
- People simply don't understand.
- You don't know where home is.
- You sort your friends by continent. (Well for me it is by province and city)
- "Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.
- You realize what a small world it is, after all.
- On your 18th birthday you still don't have a driver's license.
- When all your clothes have been worn by someone else. (many times in my life this has been true)

Shelly Kneupper Tucker said...

ROFL! I'm not a missionary kid, and always lived within 80 miles of the hospital where I was born. This is a hilarious eye-opener!